凱風快晴 (The South Wind brings Fine Weather), Katsushika Hokusai

This print is from a series of prints titled “Thirty-Six Views of Mt. Fuji,” begun in 1823 and completed around 1831. Several of the illustrations are studies of the mountain under various atmospheric conditions. Here Mt. Fuji is depicted at either dawn or dusk in the beginning of summer, just after the south winds have begun to blow and clear away the rainy season. A cool breeze can be imagined rustling through the pines depicted on the slope of the mountain. The majority of prints in the series depict Fuji as a background against which common people are shown engaged in everyday activities.

This print is from a series of 46 prints titled Thirty-Six Views of Mt. Fuji, begun in 1823 and completed around 1831. Several of the illustrations are studies of the mountain under various atmospheric conditions, as seen here (The South Wind Brings Fine Weather.) The majority depict Fuji as a background against which common people are shown engaged in everyday activities.

This print is from a series of 46 prints titled Thirty-Six Views of Mt. Fuji, begun in 1823 and completed around 1831. Several of the illustrations are studies of the mountain under various atmospheric conditions, as seen here (The South Wind Brings Fine Weather.) The majority depict Fuji as a background against which common people are shown engaged in everyday activities.

Mount Fuji is a popular subject for Japanese artists to depict. Katsushika Hokusai’s print is part of a series that shows 36 different views of the mountain. Sometimes called Red Fuji, within this print Mount Fuji is a reddish color, as it would appear during sunrise or sunset. The title of this artwork The South Wind Brings Fine Weather, describes the weather conditions around the mountain. Between the reddish color, details in the sky, and the title, the artist has provided a lot of information about this particular perspective of the mountain. Study books or resources online to find more works of art portraying Mount Fuji. How are they similar, and how are they different? What natural formations exist where you live? What are some other natural formations that you know about? For example: mountains, canyons, prairies, forests, caves, rock formations, etc. Think about the different ways you could make art about one of these natural formations. For example, you could create art showing a tall hill in your town at different times of day or times of the year.

Exhibition Label: "Asian Gallery," Jul-2003, Youmi Efurd These two prints by Hokusai (0000.1027) are from a series of 46 prints titled Thirty-Six Views of Mt. Fuji, begun in 1823 and completed around 1831. Several of the illustrations are studies of the mountain under various atmospheric conditions, as seen here (The South Wind Brings Fine Weather.) The majority depict Fuji as a background against which common people are shown engaged in everyday activities. Archive Label 2003 (version 1): Hokusai designed prints of a great variety of subjects, but he is best known for his images of Mt. Fuji. The present print, often referred to as the Red Fuji, was produced as part of his first series of the famous Mt. Fuji, the 36 Views of Mt. Fuji, published from 1825 to 1831. Hokusai and Hiroshige competed in the production of landscape prints during the mid-nineteenth century. While Hiroshige’s prints can be described as expressing a lyrical evocation of place, Hokusai’s prints are famous for their bold design elements. Here Mt. Fuji is depicted at either dawn or dusk in the beginning of summer, just after the south winds have begun to blow and clear away the rainy season. A cool breeze can be imagined rustling through the pines depicted on the slope of the mountain. Archive Label 2003 (version 2): In late summer or early autumn, when a south wind blows scudding white clouds across a clear dawn sky, the rising sun dyes the slopes of Mt. Fuji a brilliant red. No one who has seen this spectacular sight ever forgets it. South Wind, Clear Sky, also known as the “Red Fuji”, is at once the most abstracted view of Mt. Fuji in the series and the most meteorologically specific. Archive Label date unknown: From the same series as The Great Wave, this print is known as Red Fuji. Mt. Fuji takes on a reddish hue during sunrise and sunset. However, the mountain only appears this red under certain climatic conditions that arise when the sky is filled with many small billowing clouds. The clouds that Hokusai depicts in this print indicate that the artist probably viewed Mt. Fuji under those special conditions and created the print out of his memory of the moment.