Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849), Sudden Rain beneath the Summit (Sanka haku-u), also known as Black Fuji, Edo period, 19th century | 葛飾北斎　冨嶽三十六景　山下白雨　江戸時代後期　19世紀

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. 400 (unillustrated).

10th Anniversary Utamaro and Hokusai, Okada Museum of Art, Hakone, 2023, no. 32.

Kobayashi Tadashi ed., Masterpieces of the Okada Museum of Art, vol. 2, Tokyo, 2018, p. 147, no. 77-3.

One of Hokusai’s most celebrated designs, the artist envisions the western side of Mount Fuji. Often regarded as the ‘back view’ of the mountain, it appears to be a late summer’s afternoon. Bands of clouds creep around the rear of the mountain and a verdant ridge only just peaks above the dramatic slope. The white rain, or hakuu of the Japanese title means a sudden downpour, but apart from the subtle black bokashi [gradation] used within the rightmost cloud to suggest amassing rainclouds, the summer sky of the upper half of the composition contrasts acutely with the lower half. Here, the darkness of a gathering storm entirely blackens the side and base of the mountain and a crackle of lightning peals across the lower right, signalling the sudden summer storm. Yet, in its monumentality Mount Fuji towers above the elements unperturbed. 

With its economic rendering of the asymmetrical composition, as well as the steep rise of the volcanic cone, it is equally as lofty in design as South Wind, Clear Weather (Gaifu kaisei), also known as Red Fuji [see Lot 1057]. In fact, Sudden Rain beneath the Summit can be described as the antithesis to South Wind, Clear Weather, and it has been proposed that Hokusai’s intentions may have been to set up a series of contrasts between the two designs: front, back; morning, evening; fair weather, storm.¹ Furthermore, their conscious pairing may also be indicated by their titles, with one referring to rain and the other to wind; both being elements which manifested themselves in the form of gods, and which were most famously depicted by Tawaraya Sotatsu (1570-1643) [see Lots 1052, 1089, 1092 and 1095] in his pair of two-panel folding Wind God and Thunder God Screens (Fujin Raijin zu byobu) executed in the early seventeenth century.

Together with Under the Wave off Kanagawa, also known as The Great Wave (see Lot 1011) and Fine Wind, Clear Weather (see Lot 1057) it forms a trio of masterpieces from the series.

It has been estimated that as many as 8,000 impressions of each design of the series Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji were printed over the years, however many surviving impressions are late or faded.² Over the course of printing this number of impressions, the woodblocks would wear, resulting in impressions that have visible wear in the printed outlines. Also, as printing progressed less attention would be given to the process, resulting in a loss of subtlety present in early impressions.

The present lot is the earliest type of impression of Sudden Rain beneath the Summit, characterised by two reddish dots below the peak (later printings have only one dot), a blue sky with the clouds fully visible, and a thin lightning flash when compared with even slightly later printings.³ The fine quality of this impression is also evident from the crisp outlines and delicate bokashi shading which decline in later printings.

1. Timothy Clark, Hokusai: Beyond the Great Wave, (London, 2017), p. 126, pl. 54.

2. Ibid., p. 123. 

3. For a full explanation of the changes over the various impressions of Sudden Rain beneath the Summit, see Andreas Marks, Hokusai: Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji, (Koln, 2021), p.163

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400（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32（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77-3

藝術家在此件作品上描繪富士山西側景緻，乃其最具盛名的構圖之一。此視角常被視為山體「背面」，時序似為夏末午後。帶狀雲絮縈繞山脊，唯有一抹蒼翠林線自險峻山坡隱現。日文題名中的「白雨」意指驟雨，除卻最右側雲層運用精微墨色暈染暗示積雨雲的形成，畫面頂部夏日晴空與下半部形成強烈對比。此處驟然聚集的暴風雲層使山麓與基底盡染玄黑，右下角迸裂的雷光劃破天際，昭示夏日急雨的來臨。然而富士山以其雄渾之姿凌駕於自然萬象之上，巍然不動。

此作以精簡構圖展現非對稱佈局，火山錐體陡峭升騰，其設計意境之崇高與《凱風快晴》（俗稱《赤富士》，參見Lot1057）堪稱比肩。事實上，《山下白雨》可視為《凱風快晴》的對位之作，學者推測北齋或有意透過兩幅作品建立對比體系：正面與背面、晨光與暮色、晴朗與風暴。¹ 此外，兩作題名分別指涉雨與風，此種刻意配對或可追溯至俵屋宗達（1570-1643年）於十七世紀初創作的一對《風神雷神圖屏風》（參見Lot1052、1089、1092及1095）中具現為神祇的自然力量。

本作與《神奈川沖浪裏》（俗稱《巨浪》，參見Lot 1011）及《凱風快晴》共同構成《富嶽三十六景》系列的三幅巔峰之作。據考證，《富嶽三十六景》每幅於多年間印製約八千枚，然現存多數為後期刷印或色褪之作。² 歷經多次刷印，木版逐漸磨損，導致後期作品輪廓線條出現可見磨損痕跡。隨著刷印越多，工序專注度亦漸減，致使早期印本中蘊含的精微細節逐漸流失。

本拍品顯具《山下白雨》最早期的印版特徵：山巔下方呈現兩處紅點標記（後期印本僅餘單點），澄澈藍天下雲層清晰可辨，與稍晚印本相較，雷電線條更顯纖細。³ 此印本品質之精良，亦可從清晰的輪廓線與細膩暈染技法得見，此等特質在後期印本中逐漸衰減。

1. 提摩西·克拉克，《Hokusai: Beyond the Great Wave》，倫敦，2017年，頁126，圖版54。

2. 同上，頁123。

3. 關於《山下白雨》各印本演變的完整闡釋，參見安德烈亞斯·馬克斯，《Hokusai: Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji》，科隆，2021年，頁163。