Fine Wind, Clear Morning
| Japanese: 凱風快晴, Japanese: Gaifū kaisei | |
 | |
| Artist | Katsushika Hokusai |
|---|---|
| Year | c. 1830 |
| Type | Ukiyo-e woodblock print |
| Dimensions | 25.72 cm × 38 cm (10.125 in × 15 in) |
Fine Wind, Clear Morning (Japanese: 凱風快晴 Gaifū kaisei), also known as South Wind, Clear Sky [1] or Red Fuji,[2] is wood block print by Japanese artist Hokusai (1760–1849), part of his Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji series. It dates from about 1830–32, the Edo period,[2] and is currently held by museums worldwide, including the British Museum[3] in London, the Metropolitan Museum of Art[2] in New York City, and the Indianapolis Museum of Art.[1]
Description
In early autumn when, as the title specifies, the wind is southerly and the sky is clear, the rising sun can turn Mount Fuji red. Hokusai captures this moment with compositional abstraction but meteorological specificity, especially when compared to the rest of the series. The three shades of deepening blue of the sky mirror the three hues of the mountain. The lingering remnants of snow at the peak of the mountain and dark shadows encompassing the forest at its base place it very precisely in time.[3] Mt. Fuji's solidly symmetrical shape on the right half of the image is balanced by the delicate clouds to the left, for a striking composition.[1]
Historical information
This print and Hokusai's other masterpiece from his Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji series, The Great Wave off Kanagawa, are perhaps the most widely recognized pieces of Japanese art in the world.[4] Both are superb examples of the Japanese art of Ukiyo-e, "pictures of the floating world". Although Ukiyo-e can depict anything from contemporary city life to classical literature, and Hokusai's notebooks show that his own interests spanned an equally wide range, it was landscapes like this that earned him his fame. The saturated colors and stylized forms in such prints helped inspire the Impressionist and Post-impressionist movements decades later.[5]
Artist
References
- 1 2 3 "Fine Wind, Clear Morning (Gaifū kaisei)". Indianapolis Museum of Art. Retrieved 26 April 2012.
- 1 2 3 "South Wind, Clear Sky (Gaifû kaisei), also known as Red Fuji, from the series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku sanjûrokkei)". The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Retrieved 26 April 2012.
- 1 2 "Katsushika Hokusai, 'South Wind, Clear Sky' (Gaifū kaisei) 'Red Fuji', a colour woodblock print". The British Museum. Retrieved 26 April 2012.
- ↑ Crossland, Thomas; Grundtitle, Dr. Andreas (2004). "The 'Faked' Fuji Print". Ukiyoe-Gallery. Retrieved 26 April 2012.
- ↑ Day, Holliday T. (1988). Indianapolis Museum of Art Collections Handbook. Indianapolis: Indianapolis Museum of Art. ISBN 0936260203.
External links
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