百人一首　乳母かゑとき　猿丸太夫|Poem by Sarumaru Dayū, from the series One Hundred Poems Explained by the Nurse (Hyakunin isshu uba ga etoki)

Art Historical Context

This enchanting woodblock print by Katsushika Hokus, created in 1839 during Japan's Edo period, captures a tender moment from his series *One Hundred Poems by the Nurse* (*Hyakunin isshua ga etoki*). It depicts the poem by the 9th-century poet Saru Dayū, with a nurse (uba) illustrating its essence to wide children amid a rustic landscape of houses, trees, and distant mountains. Hokusai, the ukiyo-e master famed for *The Great Wave off Ka wa*, was in his late 70s, blending everyday life with poetic tradition in his signature vibrant inks and colors on paper. The *Hyakunin Isshu*, a revered ant...

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...