Fuji Viewed from Rice Fields in Owari Province by Katsushika Hokusai

The close-up on manual labor and the bold geometry of everyday shapes guide the execution of this work of great conceptual originality. In the unique composition named “Fuji Viewed from Rice Fields in Owari Province (36 Views of Mount Fuji)”, the illustrious engraver Hokusai Katsushika places the figure of the craftsman in abyme in the heart of his working environment. This print bears witness to the desire of the ukiyo-e painter to celebrate the nobility of the trades of the people while offering a play of lines and perspectives that is completely revolutionary.

A half-naked cooper is kneeling in the center of the image, busy with concentration planning the interior of a huge wooden circle intended to form a giant barrel. The massive circular structure of the vat beautifully frames the character, creating a graphic peephole through which the background landscape appears. In this distance framed by the wood, one can perceive the miniature silhouette of Mount Fuji rising above a dark marshy plain. On the left, a large pine tree with dark and twisted leaves rises next to a set of coiled ropes placed on the ground. The soft frontal light illuminates the worker’s muscular back, accentuating the realism of his effort.

The craftsman’s technical virtuosity bursts forth in the perfect outline of the wooden vat’s curve and the firmness of the bodily contours. His absolute mastery of woodblock printing allows him to reconcile the monumentality of the geometric shape with the fineness of the microscopic details of the tools. This meticulous work confirms the excellence of his art.