Hokusai

I really enjoy this book! I love the Japanese art work in it. It's one of my favorite coffee table books.

This is a particularly good publication on Hokusai's work, and has alot of scholarly info included along with very decent repros of his work. I love the size of the volume, it's a weighty book,perfect for relaxing with a cup of coffee by a window in a january snowstorm... Frankly,I would never have suspected snow falls in Japan if it wasn't for Hokusai...

A well presented and thorough overview of Hokusai's work. Informative text and good reproductions of many of his works - as someone who has some surveys of Japanese prints this book brings a level of detail and perspective thatis hard to find. A very big book with an interesting section that links to european works influenced by Hokusai in the 19th century.

Looking at this collection really shows the diversity in Hokusai's long career. In one of the essays, the writter comments that Hokusai changes his style so much that his work looks like the work of a different artist. The breath of this volume helps the viewer see how creative and inventive this master is. What I like about Hokusai is that his personal life is just as interesting as his work. The essays included do a good job placing the differnent periods in context with the times and Hokusai's own massive body of work.

There are two or three different collections of Hokusai's works in print this Fall (2003), and of them this is the best. The others are good, solid selections of his material, but this combines an encyclopedic sweep of nearly all of his available prints (including ones rarely seen, such as his erotic prints) with a superb color printing. I'd recommend this above all of the others, if you're looking for a complete catalog of his works.