Details
KATSUSHIKA HOKUSAI (1760-1849)
Onden no suisha (Waterwheel at Onden)
woodblock print, from the series Fugaku sanjurokkei (Thirty-six views of Mount Fuji), signed saki no Hokusai Iitsu hitsu, published by Nishimuraya Yohachi (Eijudo), circa 1830-31
Horizontal oban: 10316 x 141516 in. (25.9 x 37.9 cm.)
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Lot Essay

A great wooden wheel turns beside rushing water while figures bend to their labor. Katsushika Hokusai sets rural industry before the distant calm of Mount Fuji, transforming everyday work into a composition of sweeping arcs and flowing movement. The bold rhythms anticipate visual strategies later central to Japanese graphic storytelling, from the narrative language of Tezuka Osamu (Lot 25) to contemporary animation. The turning wheel becomes a symbol of time and season, a fitting emblem for the far-reaching legacy of Hokusai in global visual culture.

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