Collection: Hokusai Katsushika

(Edo 1760 - Edo 1849)

“Since the age of 6 I have felt the desire to paint everything I saw around me; after the age of 50 I had already done a good number of works but I was not at all happy with my work. Only now, at the age of 75, have I partially understood the true form and character of birds, fish and plants. At the age of 80 I will certainly have made further progress: so that, when I am 90, I will be able to penetrate into the very essence of things. At 100, I will reach a high level of perfection, and by the age of 110, everything I create, every dot and every line I draw, will be life itself. I invite all those who will know me then to ascertain the truth of these words of mine. Written at the age of 75 by someone once known as Hokusai and now called 'an old madman for drawing' ”.

Text taken from the spiritual testament of Hokusai, engraved in the colophon of the 100 views of Fuji.