Hokusai, Katsushika

Katsushika Hokusai [ a ] ( 葛飾 北斎 , c. 31 October 1760 – 10 May 1849), known mononymously as Hokusai, [ b ] was a Japanese ukiyo-e artist of the Edo period, active as a painter and printmaker. [ 2 ] His woodblock print series Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji includes the iconic print The Great Wave off Kanagawa . Hokusai was instrumental in developing ukiyo-e from a style of portraiture largely focused on courtesans and actors into a much broader style of art that focused on landscapes, plants, and animals. His works had a significant influence on Vincent van Gogh and Claude Monet during the wave of Japonisme that spread across Europe in the late 19th century.