Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849), Fine Wind, Clear Weather (Gaifu kaisei), also known as Red Fuji, Edo period, 19th century | 葛飾北斎 冨嶽三十六景 凱風快晴 江戸時代後期 19世紀
Session begins in
November 22, 06:00 AM GMT
Estimate
2,000,000 - 2,500,000 HKD
Lot Details
Description
woodblock print, from the series the Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku sanjurokkei), signed Hokusai aratame Iitsu hitsu (Brush of Iitsu, changed from Hokusai), published by Nishimuraya Yohachi (Eijudo), late 1831
Horizontal oban: 25.4 x 38.2 cm.
5th Anniversary Exhibition. All-Stars of the Okada Collection: Masterworks of Korin, Jakuchu, Hokusai and the Ru Ware Kilns, Okada Museum of Art, Hakone, 2018-19, exh. no. 12 (unillustrated).
10th Anniversary Utamaro and Hokusai, Okada Museum of Art, Hakone, 2023, no. 30.
Kobayashi Tadashi ed., Masterpieces of the Okada Museum of Art, vol. 2, Tokyo, 2019, p. 147, no. 77-2.
Rising over the Pacific Ocean, the rosy light of dawn reddens the eastern side of Mount Fuji. Altocumulus clouds, sometimes described as iwashigumo [lit. sardine clouds], seem to drift northwards against a backdrop of Berlin blue pigment as if imitating a slow-moving shoal of fish in the sea. A bokashi [gradation] strip to the top evokes the lingering darkness of night, still present as day begins to break. Compared to the monumental scale of the mountain, the trees in the forest at its foot are dwarfed in size. The ‘southern breeze’, or gaifu of the title, is associated with late summer when the snow-capped top of Mount Fuji remains only as small rivulets.
Although the depiction of the mountain appears almost abstract, Hokusai desired specific effects in the printing. Observed from an easterly viewpoint, the first light of day falling on the upper slopes colours the volcanic ash a pinkish red. The summer sun rises north of east, hitting the conical stratovolcano at an oblique angle so that the light-struck area arcs and is lower to the right than the left.1 Nonetheless, Hokusai exaggerates the mountain’s slope so that it appears dramatically steeper, heightened by its asymmetrical placement.
Enigmatically reduced to its most fundamental elements, the economic yet impressive design is considered one of Hokusai’s most iconic works. Where Under the Wave off Kanagawa (Kanagawa-oki nami-ura), also known as The Great Wave (see Lot 1011), takes centre stage as the most celebrated woodblock print in the West, this place is reserved domestically for ‘Red Fuji’ in Japan.
1. Timothy Clark, Hokusai: Beyond the Great Wave, (London, 2017), p. 125, no. 53.
Other impressions are housed in numerous museum collections, including:
The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, accession no. 21.6756, go to:
https://collections.mfa.org/objects/234417
The Metropolitan Museum of Art (The MET), accession no. JP2960, go to:
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/55736
The British Museum, accession no. 1906,1220,0.525, go to:
https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/A_1906-1220-0-525
展覽
《美のスターたち-光琳・若冲・北斎・汝窯など名品ぞろい-》， 岡田美術館，箱根，2018年，展覽編號399（沒載圖）
《開館10周年記念 歌麿と北斎 時代を作った浮世絵師》，岡田美術館，箱根，2023年，展覽編號30（沒載圖）
出版
小林忠編，《岡田美術館名品撰》，卷2，東京，2018年，編號77-2
朝陽自太平洋升起，薔薇色曦光將富士山東側染作緋紅。被稱為「鰯雲」的高積雲，彷彿模仿海中悠游的魚群，在普魯士藍色顏料鋪陳的背景中向北飄移。頂端以暈染技法呈現的漸層帶，暗示著破曉時分仍未散盡的夜色餘韻。相較於山體的雄偉規模，山腳林間的樹木顯得格外渺小。題名所指之「凱風」，即指夏末，此時富士山頂的積雪僅餘涓涓細流。
儘管山體描繪近乎抽象，北齋仍追求木版印刷的特定效果。從東方視角觀之，破曉曙光灑落山坡上部，使火山灰呈現粉紅色調。夏季旭日自東偏北方升起，以斜射角度映照這座錐形成層火山，形成受光區域向右下緣彎弧的視覺效果。¹ 然而北齋刻意誇大山體斜度，在非對稱構圖中更顯陡峻。
此作以高度凝練的視覺語彙，將自然景觀解構至最純粹的本質，其簡練而撼人的構圖被視為北齋最具代表性的經典之作。相較於《神奈川沖浪裏》（又稱《巨浪》，參見編號1011拍品）在西方世界享有盛譽，《赤富士》於日本本土具有同等崇高的地位。
1. Timothy Clark，《Hokusai: Beyond the Great Wave》，倫敦，2017年，頁125，編號53
相版亦見於多家博物館典藏，包括：
波士頓美術博物館，典藏編號21.6756，詳見：
https://collections.mfa.org/objects/234417
紐約大都會藝術博物館，典藏編號JP2960，詳見：
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/55736
大英博物館，典藏編號1906,1220,0.525，詳見：
https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/A_1906-1220-0-525
You May Also Like
