The Japanese painter and printmaker Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) is considered one of the six great Ukiyo-e masters and the founder of the school of landscape artists that dominated this form during its last phase.

While the Japanese wood block of the 18th century was dominated by the figure print, notably pictures of actors and courtesans, the prints of the early 19th century were largely devoted to landscapes and to scenes from the daily life of the common people. This development was due to the work of Hokusai, whose introduction of the landscape print was responsible for infusing Ukiyo-e, which had become decadent and stagnant at the end of the 18th century, with a new vitality.

Born of peasant stock in the Katsushika district on the outskirts of Edo (modern Tokyo), Hokusai never lost touch with the ordinary people of his native city. In his youth he was first...