Description

Shortlisted in the Exhibition Catalogues category in the British Book Design and Production Awards 2022

Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) is considered by many to be Japan's greatest artist. During his seventy-year career; he produced a considerable oeuvre of some 3; 000 color prints; illustrations for over 200 books; hundreds of drawings; and over 1; 000 paintings. This exciting collection of 103 exquisite small drawings were made for an unpublished book called The Great Picture Book of Everything - featuring wide-ranging subjects from depictions of religious; mythological; historical; and literary figures to animals; birds; flowers; and other natural phenomena; as well as landscapes. They are dominated by subjects that relate to ancient China and India; also Southeast and Central Asia. Many subjects found in the collection are not found in previous Hokusai works; including fascinating imaginings of the origin of human culture in ancient China.

This beautifully produced book draws on the latest research; illustrating the complete set of drawings; published for the first time.