The Great Picture Book of Everything

The Great Picture Book of Everything is the grandiose title that was attached to an unpublished encyclopedia illustrated by the Japanese master Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849). Hokusai is doubtless the most famous Japanese artist. Although it was known that the master had made the more than one hundred drawings, they have never been exhibited in public, until now. The small drawings (each maybe the size of a postcard) are being shown by the British Museum. Happily, there is a companion book published last week. 

"The Great Wave Off Kanagawa," 1830, woodblock print

Without question, Hokusai's print known popularly as "The Great Wave," one of the "Thirty-Six Views of Mt. Fuji," begun in 1830 and completed a few years afterward. But the master worked daylight to dark most days of his ninety years and left behind thousands of prints, drawings, paintings and other works. These newly exhibited works are probably part of a much larger group, given that the Boston Museum of Fine Arts holds nearly 180 similar-sized works with similar style.  

"Cats and Hibiscus," ink on paper, 1820-40

Perhaps one of the most important facets of these images is they aren't prints, unlike so many famous works by Hokusai, but are actual drawings by his hand. Drawings are lost in traditional wood block printing so that very few exist. Here we can examine the genius of the master's hand rather than as interpreted by a block cutter. These were for an unpublished book and were therefore preserved.

"Water Fowl," ink on paper

The book that accompanies the exhibition is well worth the time and money involved.