Paul Hogarth counts the famous graphic artist Katsushika Hokusai in his basic publication of 1967 The artist as reporter among the most distinctive and influential representatives of the “imaginative artist-observer, of the more creative side of the documentary tradition,” and indeed the unrestricted grasp of the Japanese printmaker, which includes all possible natural, supranatural and mythological phenomena, could serve as a major inspiration for any artist who rides the narrowed documentary wave. “It would be difficult to think of any other artist concerned with the minutiae of everyday life who created so rich an art out of it.The fifteen volumes of his sketchbook, the Manga, amply repay scrutiny and make us appreciate what vitality of expression can mean.” (Paul Hogarth)

Hokusai, from: Hokusai Manga, Meijii-Edition, ca.1880 (MePri-collection)

The retrospective in the Martin-Gropius-Bau in Berlin, which runs till 24 October, gathers top-class works from all periods of the artist’s career – woodcuts and drawings, illustrated books, and paintings, but Hokusai is not an exhibition artist and his art can be best experienced in the intimacy of a printroom and by paging through the volumes of his print cycles and sketchbooks. A excellent edition of his complete Manga with 932 pp. appeared 2005 in Tokiyo. An abridged version is announced for the end of october this year. Besides there is also an online version available. 

Hokusai, from: Hokusai Gaen, early Edition from the original blocks, ca.1860 (MePri-collection)