Katsushika Hokusai

Katsushika Hokusai spent his life in Edo, now Tokyo, where he drew and carved prints for a living. He liked to say he was born at 50, meaning he was always changing, always learning. At 70, he claimed he’d finally figure out how to draw a decent picture.

Hokusai turned woodblock prints from portraits of actors and courtesans into scenes of everyday life. His series Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji shows the mountain from every angle, from choppy waves to quiet tea houses. The Great Wave off Kanagawa is his most famous print, but he made thousands more. He used flat colors and bold outlines, a style called ukiyo-e, to make his scenes feel alive.

Look for his signature in the corner: “Hokusai” or “gakyōjin” (“the old man mad about art”). He often tucked tiny people or animals into landscapes, giving scale to mountains and seas. His work feels fresh because he kept experimenting until the end.