Hokusai Hiroshige Utamaro

The exhibition curated by Rossella Menegazzo presents an exceptional selection of 200 color woodblock prints and illustrated books from the Honolulu Musuem of Art. Highlights include the famous Great Wave and the series of Thirty-Six Views of Mt Fuji by Hokusai, the cycle of Fifty-three Stations of the Tōkaidō by Hiroshige and Utamaro’s portraits of beauties. The creativity and technique of these three great masters of ukiyo-e will demonstrate how the market required them to treat similar subjects, places and themes which would be well known to the public. Even so, each had his own distinct style and practice. The exhibition is composed of five sections: “Famous Places and People: Hokusai and Hiroshige”; “Literary Tradition and Famous Landscapes: Hokusai”; “Natural Rivals: Hokusai and Hiroshige”, “Utamaro: Beauty and the Senses”; and “Manga: Learning from Hokusai”.