Abe no Nakamaro
1833 - 1837
Medium
color woodcut
Dimensions
374; 254
About this artwork
Purchased with the support of the F.G. Waller-Fonds
Art Historical Context
Katsushika Hokus's *Abe no Nakamaro* (1833–1837) is a captivating color woodcut from the Edo-period master’s series *One Hundred Poems Explained the Nurse*. This print depicts the 8th-century Japanese scholar Abe Nakamaro gazing wistfully at the moon from a Chinese cliffside, inspired by his poignant poem in the famed *Hyakunin Isshu* anthology Stranded abroad after a failed voyage home, Nakamaro verse evokes longing for Japan’s mountains under the same lunar glow—a timeless theme of exile and nostalgia that Hokusai brings to vivid life. Measuring 254 × 374 mm, the work exemplifies ukiyo-e’s ...
About the Artist
Katsushika Hokusai · 1760–1849
Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) stands as one of history's most influential artists, a Japanese master who revolutionized the ukiyo-e woodblock print tradition and profoundly shaped Western art. Born in the Katsushika district of Edo (modern-day Tokyo) to an artisan family, Hokusai lived through nearly nine decades of extraordinary creative evolution, adopting over thirty different artistic names t...