HOKUSAI KATSUHIKA, One Hundred Views of Mount Fuji n. 83, 1836-1847

Splendid 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
The scene depicts an umbrella maker applying waterproofing oil to an umbrella, traditionally made of paper. The craftsman is captured as he pauses in his work, with an oil-soaked rag in hand and the umbrella open before him, to carefully observe Mount Fuji, creating a suggestive link between daily activity and contemplation of the landscape.
The image is constructed as a refined formal play: the closed and folded umbrellas are arranged in sequence like a chain of small mountain peaks at the foot of Fuji, while the open ones, suspended higher up, evoke the passage of clouds in the sky.
Two umbrellas placed at the edges of the composition serve both a decorative and informative function, bearing clearly visible inscriptions: “Fugaku Hyakkei” (“One Hundred Views of Mount Fuji”), the title of the series, and “shoshi” or “soshi”, a term indicating a bookstore or book warehouse. Such marks refer to a not uncommon practice in prints of the time, where elements of self-promotion were integrated into the image itself, although the information about the publisher here appears deliberately generic.
The reference to Aoyama in the title is generally interpreted as an allusion to the homonymous district of Edo, although its specific connection to umbrella production is unclear. Overall, the print combines observation of artisan life, compositional invention, and editorial allusion, transforming a simple work gesture into a sophisticated visual meditation on Fuji and the forms that evoke it.