My Museum Tour

Dive a little deeper into artworks that inspired and were inspired by Japanese woodblock artist Katsushika Hokusai.

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  Mount Fuji and the Miho Pine Forest

  Soga Shohaku

  Gallery 109, first level, Arts of China, Japan and Korea Galleries

  This 18th-century folding screen, part of a pair, is by one of the best known painters in Japan, Soga Shōhaku, revered for his unusual subjects and eccentric style. This screen focuses on the iconic Mount Fuji, a sacred site since ancient times. Shо̄haku depicted the mountain completely covered in snow, painting it in negative. The white of the mountain is the color of the bare paper, and the outlines of the peak are done with ink wash.

  "Hokusai was likely inspired to take on the subject of Mount Fuji by earlier depictions of the mountain, such as this exquisite version created more than 100 years prior to Hokusai's prints and done almost entirely in black ink."

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  Woman at Her Toilette

  Berthe Morisot

  Gallery 201, second level, Arts of Europe: Painting and Sculpture Galleries

  Rendered with feathery brushstrokes in shades of lavender, pink, blue, white, and gray, this Impressionist painting captures a subject often explored by male artists of the day but seldom broached by the period's few women artists. Morisot presents a decidely female perspective, intimate yet not eroticized. She signed her name along the bottom of the mirror, as if to suggest that the image in her painting is as ephemeral as a silvery reflection.

  "Morisot was introduced to Japanese prints by her friend Mary Cassatt, who wrote to her, 'You must see the Japanese—come as soon as you can.' Morisot was quickly captivated by the prints' unusual perspectives and incorporated this approach in her work."

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  Stacks of Wheat (End of Day, Autumn)

  Claude Monet

  Gallery 243, second level, Impressionism Galleries

  Through 1890 and 1891, Monet created a series of paintings depicting the stacks of wheat that stood outside his farmhouse in Giverny. He worked both in the field, painting simultaneously at several easels, and in the studio, refining pictorial harmonies. In this view, and in nearly all of the autumn views, the conical tops of the stacks break the horizon and push into the sky.

  "After visiting the Japanese Pavilion at the 1867 Paris Exposition, Monet acquired 250 Japanese prints, including 23 by Hokusai. Hokusai's series of prints depicting a single subject from various views inspired Monet to create his Stacks of Wheat series."

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  Platter

  Félix Henri Bracquemond

  Gallery 246, second level, Impressionism Galleries

  This platter, decorated with a swimming carp, crickets, and morning glory flowers, was both radically innovative and commercially successful after it debuted at the Paris World’s Fair in 1867. It is generally recognized as representing a turning point in design. Bracquemond’s compositions had no precedent in tableware design in Europe, instead borrowing their strong black outlines, asymmetry, and foreshortening from Japanese woodcut prints.

  "Bracquemond was among the first French artists to fall for Hokusai's prints after seeing them at a Parisian shop. He shared his discovery with fellow artists, like Manet and Van Gogh, who became Hokusai collectors and were influenced by Japanese design."

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  The Child's Bath

  Mary Cassatt

  Gallery 273, second level, Arts of the Americas Galleries

  Known for her sensitive yet unsentimental scenes of women and children, Mary Cassatt was the only American invited to exhibit with the original French Impressionist group. In The Child’s Bath, one of her masterworks, she used cropped forms, bold patterns and outlines, and a flattened perspective, all of which she derived from her study of Japanese woodblock prints.

  "In 1890, Cassatt saw Japanese prints at the École Nationale des Beaux-Arts in Paris, noting that one 'wouldn't dream of anything more beautiful.' She went on to purchase prints by Hiroshige, Hokusai, and Utamaro and drew great inspiration from them."

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  Mr. Pointy

  Takashi Murakami

  Gallery 292, second level, Contemporary Galleries

  Takashi Murakami skillfully mixes Japanese pop culture, animé, and cartoon aesthetics into a new form of global pop art. Both an artist and a businessman, he creates large-scale paintings and sculptures, animation, and merchandise, including a fashion collaboration with Louis Vuitton. The character of Mr. Pointy was devised by Murakami in 2003 and has since been repeatedly rendered in paintings, mass-market prints, and sculptures.

  "Contemporary artists like Murakami and manga comics are heavily influenced by 19th-century Japanese woodblock artists like Hokusai in their use of bold colors and flattened compositions. Murakami coined the term 'Superflat' to describe this technique."

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