HOKUSAI KATSUHIKA, Ippitsu Gafu n. 54, 1823

Series: Collection of Sketches with a Single Brushstroke; Conveying the Spirit and Revealing the Form of Things Through the Sketchbook with a Single Brushstroke ( Denshin kaishu Ippitsu Gafu )
Technique: Sumizuri-e , woodcuts in two or three tones pink, turquoise and black
Format: Chubon (approximately 174x122 mm)
Signatures: Zen Hokusai Iitsu Aratame Gakyorojin Manji
Artist's Seal: Fuji no Yama
Date: Woodcuts engraved between 1823; examples engraved in the Meiji era (1868)
Publisher: Eirakuya Tōshirō (Tōshodō), Nagoya

A splendid work with bright colors and subtle markings, attributed to the Eirakuya Tōshirō print run (early Meiji era) from the original woodcuts. Printed on Japanese paper, in excellent condition, with original margins intact beyond the marginal line.

Annotated bibliography
M. Forrer, Hokusai , Munich: Prestel Verlag, 2010
M. Forrer, Hokusai , New York: Rizzoli, 1988
M. Forrer, Hokusai. Prints and Drawings , Munich: Prestel, 1991
GC Calza, Hokusai. The Old Man Mad About Painting , Milan: Electa, 2003
J. Hillier, The Art of Hokusai in Book Illustration , London: Sotheby Parke Bernet, 1980
J. Hillier, L. Smith, Japanese Prints. 300 Years of Albums and Books , London: British Museum Publications, 1980
R. S. Keyes, Ehon. The Artist and the Book in Japan , New York: George Braziller, 2006
M. Forrer, WR van Gulik, Hokusai and His School. Paintings, Drawings and Illustrated Books , Leiden: Society for Japanese Arts and Crafts, 1991
M. Forrer, E. Tōshirō, Publisher at Nagoya. A Contribution to the History of Publishing in 19th Century Japan , Amsterdam: J.C. Gieben, 1985
S. Nagata, Hokusai no Etehon (Hokusai's Drawing Manuals) , vol. 1, Tokyo: Iwasaki Bijutsu-sha, 1986
S. Vesco, Spontaneous mastery. The Ryakuga haya oshie by Katsushika Hokusai , Venice: Edizioni Ca' Foscari, 2020
British Museum: https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/A_1915-0823-0-93
The Art Institute of Chicago https://www.artic.edu/artworks/192278/ippitsu-gafu-album-of-drawings-with-one-stroke-complete-in-1-vol
The Metropolitan Museum of Art: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/78799

Comment
The title of the collection itself, Transmitting the Spirit, Revealing the Form of Things Through a Single Brushstroke ( Denshin kaishu Ippitsu gafu ), expresses Hokusai's entire philosophy: the belief that art must go beyond the simple reproduction of reality to capture the vital energy of each subject.
As Van Gogh recalled in a letter to his brother Theo in 1888, "Hokusai's charm lies in his ability to strip away the superfluous to reveal the essential." With their refined hues of turquoise and deep pink, the woodcuts in the collection enchant with their immediate freshness and demonstrate how Hokusai, in his graphic synthesis, anticipated and influenced modern sensibility, from the Impressionist painters onward.