Beyond the Great Wave - Hokusai at 90

The great Japanese master Hokusai expresses a sense of a life well-lived in these two paintings - of a woodcutter and a fisherman.
A conversation with Dr. Frank Feltens, The Japan Foundation Assistant Curator of Japanese Art, Freer Gallery of Art and Dr. Beth Harris, in front of Katsushika Hokusai, Fisherman, 1849, ink and color on silk, 113 x 39.6 cm and Woodcutter, 1849, ink and color on silk, 113.6 × 39.6 cm (Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920, F1904.181 and 1904.182)

[@joshii32]

Frank Feltens is an amazing art historian. I recognize him with his german accent in every video he explains something immediately

[@peekodafreeko3949]

love these. Great content my dudes.

[@deepashtray5605]

Love his work. Woodcutter, as in carving woodblock prints...? The mountains in the background suggest the journey to heaven just as looking across the vastness of the sea is a reflection of the vastness of what lays ahead after he's moved on from this life. Both images suggest to me his love of life and how he can look forward with a smile on what lays ahead.

[@theharbingerofconflation]

He is certainly not sitting on the basket, He is sitting on the stone behind it. That also might not be a feather at all, the Japanese had lots of mythical fish among their fables. Like the Namazu who causes earthquakes. Possible that this is a fin, much alike that of a fighter fish.

[@alfredoechevarrieta7512]

Gracias.

[@user-kp5mm4yu4n]

I'm very moved by this review, thank you.

[@antoniogeitoeira5439]

So' tenho 40 monografias sobre Hokusai, espero chegar 'as 110.

[@johngeorge255]

Good as always...when will Dr Steven Zucker return?

[@smarthistory-art-history]

Thanks for asking. I am here. In fact, the photos of the scrolls are mine. Beth and I switch off when we work with museum curators.

[@johngeorge255]

@@smarthistory-art-history I seriously miss your voice....to a stage that I cannot watch a video without that cool way of presentation of yours with Beth Harris...come back soon

[@nephildevil]

Seaweed? those are barnacles

[@dgzch]

*FGO player Intensifies*

[@waynelucas7178]

What does the woodcutter symbolize? What does the fisherman symbolize? Why do you think the narrators believe he could be one of the most accomplished painters of the 19th century and possibly the most accomplished painter from Japan?

[@Sasha0927]

This is petty, but the fisherman is why people hate feet. 🙊 His shady theft of the heavenly being's robe wasn't cute either... lol. I haven't seen much Asian art on here yet and this was certainly its own style. I respect Hokusai's 100+-year-old aspirations, too. He reminds me to think bigger.

[@smarthistory-art-history]

We are slowly growing our art of Asia content: smarthistory.org/asia/ also found here: smarthistory.org/ancient-mediterranean/ and here: smarthistory.org/islamic/

[@Sasha0927]

@@smarthistory-art-history Of course y'all are - that's amazing. 🥰 Just giving the Asia section a little scroll, I've already seen some things jump out at me (e.g. "Christian art in India" and "Self-portrait as a Tahitian"). There seems to be a lot of content worth exploring. I'm looking forward to learnig more.