From Library Journal
This large, lavishly illustrated book chronicles the long career of Hokusai, the late 18th- and early 19th-century Japanese artist well known in the West for his paintings and woodblock prints. Included are a 19th-century French text on Hokusai by Edmond de Goncourt and a modern text by Dutch museum curator Forrer, which restates, amplifies, or corrects de Goncourt's information. The two texts, printed in different typefaces, are intercut for an unusual effect. De Goncourt's text is the livelier of the two, but Forrer has the benefit of subsequent Hokusai scholarship. Appended scholarly aids such as chronologies and lists of Hokusai's name changes and major pupils will best serve the needs of specialists, but the illustrations will be captivating to a wide audience and the texts, if a bit cumbersome, are still accessible to general readers.- Kathryn W. Finkelstein, M.Ln., CincinnatiCopyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

ANNOTATION

This illustrated volume is the first major English-language study of this master Japanes artist, famous for his paintings of 18th century Edo (now Tokyo).

FROM THE CRITICS

Library Journal