1760-1849. Japanese artist, the leading
printmaker of his time. He published Fugaku
Sanju-rokkei/36 Views of Mount Fuji about
1823-29, but he produced outstanding pictures
of almost every kind of subject - birds,
flowers, courtesans, and scenes from legend
and everyday life. Hokusai was born in Edo
(now Tokyo) and studied wood engraving and
book illustration. He was interested in
Western painting and perspective and
introduced landscape as a woodblock-print
genre. His Manga, a book crammed with
inventive sketches, was published in 13
volumes from 1814.