HOKUSAI KATSUHIKA, One Hundred Views of Mount Fuji n. 60, 1835

Fuji in a Window, Sochu no Fuji

Series: One Hundred Views of Mount Fuji , Fugaku Hyakkei
Technique: Sumizuri-e , woodblock prints in two or three shades of gray ( sumi ink)
Format: Hanshibon koban , single sheet (approximately 183x123 mm)
Signatures: Zen Hokusai Iitsu Aratame Gakyorojin Manji
Artist's seal: Fuji no Yama
Date: Woodcuts engraved between 1834 and 1847; examples printed between 1834 and about 1870
Engravers: Egawa Tomekichi and Egawa Sentarō
Publisher: Eirakuya Tōshirō (Tōshodō), Nagoya

A splendid work with good contrasts, attributable to the Eirakuya Tōshirō print run (mid-19th century) from the original woodcuts from the Egawa workshop. Printed on Japanese paper, in excellent condition, with original margins intact 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
GC Calza, Hokusai: the old man crazy about painting , Milan 1999-2000, London 2003
GC Calza, Hokusai: 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

Description
Mount Fuji, inscribed in a perfect circle visible through a window, dominates the scene as a visual and symbolic fulcrum. In the foreground, an old poet sits at his desk: he has just stopped working and, putting aside his pipe, raises his arms in a gesture that combines tension and relaxation, letting his gaze wander toward the sacred mountain. His body forms an arch that echoes the silhouette of Fuji, while outside, in the sky, a flock of birds flies, likely returning geese, a traditional sign of the end of the day.
The poet's gesture has been interpreted differently: Western observers, starting with Dickins, have interpreted it as an expression of ecstasy and wonder at the mountain, while Japanese tradition recognizes it more as a yawn, a simple everyday gesture that reflects the difference in cultural codes of body language. Indeed, by rotating the scene, the man's posture clearly appears that of someone stretching after a concentrated effort.
All Japanese commentators have emphasized Hokusai's probable inspiration from a view of the same name by Kawamura Minsetsu, although the approach is entirely different. Minsetsu's image is, in fact, purely architectural, devoid of human figures and featuring a small window that allows a glimpse of the distant, static Fuji. Hokusai, instead, transforms the scene into a moment of life, a suspended instant in which the artist invites the viewer to construct their own narrative.
One might imagine the poet, after completing a difficult section of composition, taking a break: he stretches with satisfaction, ready to pick up his pipe again, when, beyond the window, he spots geese crossing the sky in front of Mount Fuji. The entire image thus resembles a visual haiku , in which the simplicity of the human gesture and the grandeur of nature merge in a perfect balance of time, light, and contemplation.