HOKUSAI KATSUSHIKA, One Hundred Views of Mount Fuji No. 92, 1834

A splendid proof with good contrasts, attributable to the Eirakuya Tōshirō edition (mid-19th century) from the original blocks 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: il vecchio pazzo per la pittura, Milan 1999-2000, London 2003
G.C. Calza, Hokusai: le cento vedute del 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 print depicts the Musashi Plain, a vast grassy expanse east of Edo, interpreted by Hokusai with a strong poetic and decorative appeal. The scene is dominated by the full moon, suspended above the tall grass, an unusual concept for Japan, where the moon normally sets behind the mountains. The clouds, arranged in stylized bands, create an ascending staircase effect that guides the gaze towards Mount Fuji, the only visible relief beyond the grassy plain. Their stylization, typical of classical decorative painting, gives rhythm and depth to the composition, emphasizing the sense of vastness of Musashi and the poetic elegance of the scene.
Hokusai reinterprets and reinvents an ancient theme from decorative screens, adding the image of the setting moon to the grassy plain, integrating the natural landscape with a literary and symbolic meaning. The entire print thus blends poetry, pictorial tradition, and landscape observation, offering a suggestive and almost meditative vision of the Musashi plain under the light of the full moon.