Hokusai: beyond the Great Wave

An important publication on Hokusai’s remarkable late work, originally published to accompany the acclaimed retrospective at the British Museum and now available in a compact edition.

Hokusai (1760–1849) created sublime works during the last thirty years of his life, right up to his death at the age of almost ninety. This book presents fresh scholarship on the paintings and prints created by the artist during his final three decades, bringing together the finest examples to be found in Japan and around the world.

Hokusai’s personal beliefs are studied here through major brush paintings, drawings, woodblock prints and illustrated books. This publication gives due attention to the contribution of Hokusai’s daughter Eijo (Oi), an accomplished artist in her own right. Hokusai continually explored the mutability and minutiae of natural phenomena in his art. His late subjects and styles were based on a mastery of eclectic Japanese, Chinese and European techniques and an encyclopedic knowledge of nature, myth and history. The collection of Hokusai’s works draws on the finest to be found in Japan and around the world, making this a uniquely valuable overview of the artist’s late career.

Review

The most important publication for years on Hokusai . . . a uniquely valuable overview of the artist's late career.-- "Asian Art Newspaper"

About the Author

Timothy Clark FBA is Honorary Research Fellow in the Department of Asia at the British Museum. Until 2019 he was Head of the Japanese section at the Museum. Asano Shugo is Director of The Museum Yamato Bunkakan, Nara, Director of the Abeno Harukas Art Museum, Osaka, and President of the International Ukiyo-e Society. Roger S. Keyes (1942–2020) was a leading scholar of early modern print culture in Japan, particularly Hokusai. Together with Peter Morse (1935–1992) he created the Catalogue Raisonne of the Surviving Single Sheet Woodblock Prints of Katsushika Hokusai. Alfred Haft is JTI Project Curator for Japanese Collections at the British Museum. He is the author of Hiroshige: artist of the open road (2025). Angus Lockyer taught history at SOAS University of London from 2004 to 2019. He currently teaches at the Rhode Island School of Design. Japan: A History in Objects, based on the collection of the British Museum, will be published in 2026. Matsuba Ryoko is Professor of Digital Humanities for Arts and Cultures at Ritsumeikan University and will become a new faculty member at the College of Arts and Design and Graduate School of Science in Arts and Design, which expects to welcome its first students in April 2026.