KATSUSHIKA HOKUSAI 葛飾北斎 (1760-1849)
Hokusai is born at Edo period 江戸時代 of Japan. His father was a maker for mirror for the upper class and the royalty. Hokusai's artist training started very early. He began working in a library at age 12. Then at age 14, he became an apprentice to a woodcarver. At age 18, he entered the studio of KATSUKAWA SHUNSHO 勝川春章, who was the head of Katsukawa school 勝川派. He worked on actor printings and gain some fame from it.
In 1793, upon Shunsho's death, Hokusai started experimenting with Western style of art, but soon got expelled from Katsukawa school. This had a huge impact on him. He stopped painting traditional topic of artists. He continued his career at Tawaraya School 俵屋派. There he did wood prints that goes with poems, called Surimono 摺物, during this period.
In 1798, he freed from ties of a school. Instead he became a free artist, and changed his name to Hokusai. He released two albums of Famous Sights of the Eastern Capital and Eight Views of Edo the same year. He also began art lessons to make some quick money. In 1814, his first manga of the "for those who wanted to learn drawing in the Hokusai style" series is published.
After the lose of his second wife and troubled by his "wilful" grandson, his art career had slowed for a few years. Until early 1830, he resumed his painting. It is during this period he created all the best works in his life. He even stated himself.
From the age of six, I had a passion for copying the form of things and since the age of fifty I have published many drawings, yet of all I drew by my seventieth year there is nothing worth taking in to account.
In 1831, he started on the series called Thirty six views of Mount Fuji, including the famous Great wave off Kanagawa. During his highly productive 70s years, he had also created other series: A Tour of Japanese Waterfalls, Rare Views of Famous Landscapes, Rare Views of Famous Japanese Bridges, A Thousand Images of the Sea, One Hundred Ghost Tales, One Hundred Views of Mount Fuji, Beauties of the Three Cities (Osaka, Kyoto and Edo). In these series, we can clearly see the western influence on perspectives and the shape of the clouds. In his late years, he have also studied Chinese style painting and attempted Kachoga 花碟畫.
UTAGAWA HIROSHIGE 歌川広重 (1797-1858)
Hiroshige was born in a family of samurai in Edo period 江戸時代. His grandfather was an archery instructor and his father was a fire fighter. After his father's death, the fire warden duty is passed on to the twelve-year-old Hiroshige.
The fire warden job left him much leisure time. He started painting at age 14. He applied to study in Utagawa school 歌川派 with UTAGAWA TOYOKUNI 歌川豐國, but there was no room for him. He soon studied from UTAGAWA TOYOHIRO 歌川豊広 instead. In 1812, he first allowed to sign his works. He passed on his fireman job in 1823 to his brother, and worked professionally as an artist. His beauty paintings in the style of Utagawa style had gain him some fame.
He also studied on his own from Kano school 狩野派 (originally influenced by Chinese painting, developed into its own style of bright colors and firm outlines), Nanga 南畫 developed from Southern School 南宗画 (name from differing with the northern school, this is created by Chinese scholars to express literati life attitude), Shijō school 四条派 (focusing on realism) and Uki-e 浮絵 (branch of Ukiyo-e that imply western perspective art skill).
In 1828, he refused to succeed Toyohiro upon the master's death. Under the influence of Hokusai, who was very active at the time, he started producing landscape paintings. Eight views of Omi series came out in 1830. Then in 1831, Ten Famous Places in the Eastern Capital, which made him famous.
After travelled from Edo to Kyoto on the Tokaido route, he produced The Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido. Following this huge success, he published more series: Illustrated Places of Naniwa(1834),Famous Places of Kyoto(1835), another Eight views of Omi(1834), Eight Views of Edo accompanied by poems (1838). Along with Keisai Eisen 渓斎英泉, he worked on The Sixty-Nine Stations of the Kido Kaido between 1835 to 1842.
In 1856, Hiroshige became a Buddhist monk. In the last few years of his life, he still worked on art and produced: Famous Views of the Sixty-odd Provinces (1853-1856), One Hundred Famous Views of Edo (1856-1858), Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji (1852-1858). They all turned out to be immensely popular.
