HOKUSAI KATSUSHIKA, One Hundred Views of Mount Fuji no. 56, 1835

Stunning proof with good contrasts, attributable to the print run of Eirakuya Tōshirō (mid 19th century) from the original woods of the Egawa workshop. Printed on Japanese paper, in excellent condition, with original untrimmed margins beyond the marginal line.

Annotated Bibliography
H.D. Smith II, Hokusai: One Hundred Views of Mt. Fuji, New York: George Braziller, 1988
M. Forrer, Hokusai, London: Royal Academy of Arts, 1991
M. Forrer, Hokusai, New York: Rizzoli, 1988
M. Forrer, Hokusai: Prints and Drawings, Munich: Prestel, 1991
G.C. Calza, Hokusai: The Old Madman of Painting, Milan 1999-2000, London 2003
G.C. Calza, Hokusai: The One Hundred Views of Fuji, Milan: Editoriale Nuova, 1982
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
T. Clark (ed.), Hokusai: Beyond the Great Wave, London: British Museum Press, 2017
M. Forrer, W.R. van Gulik, Hokusai and His School: Paintings, Drawings and Illustrated Books, Leiden: Society for Japanese Arts and Crafts, 1991
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/78803

Commentary
In this witty and poetic composition, Hokusai represents the sacred mountain not in its real form, but through an ingenious visual play: Mount Fuji manifests itself in the pile of snow heaped by a snow shoveler after a storm. The triangular shape of the mound recalls that of the volcano, while the snow shovel, with its rectangular outline, echoes both the trampled contour of the pseudo-Fuji and the grayish pattern traced on the ground below.
Surrounding it is the white of the snow, in which vibrant details of daily life stand out: some dogs play on the snow hill, while two figures, with their faces hidden, seem to converse at the side of the scene. A child or porter, almost entirely concealed by a large straw hat disproportionate to his figure, advances carrying bottles of sake, a symbol of warmth and conviviality on a cold winter day.
Through this refined visual device, Hokusai transforms a simple domestic landscape into a subtle allusion to Fuji, blending irony, observation of daily life, and reverence for the sacred mountain.