Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) | Fine Wind, Clear Weather (Gaifu kaisei), also known as Red Fuji | Edo period, 19th century

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 5), takes centre stage as the most celebrated woodblock print in the West, this place is reserved domestically for ‘Red Fuji’ in Japan.

It is thought that approximately one hundred and thirty impressions of The Great Wave are extant in private and public collections. For Red Fuji, this number is far fewer. A total of ninety-three impressions have been located, including twenty -two thought to be in private collections.²

1. Timothy Clark, Hokusai: Beyond the Great Wave, (London, 2017), p. 125, no. 53.

2. Capucine Korenberg et. al., 'Establishing the Production Chronology of the Iconic Japanese Woodblock

Print ‘Red Fuji'', (London, 2021).

The same print is in numerous museum collections, including:

A similar impression is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (The MET), accession number JP9, go to: 

http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/artwork/77328

Another example of a similar impression is in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, accession number 21.6756, go to:

https://collections.mfa.org/objects/234419

And, a further example is in the collection of the British Museum, museum number 1906,1220,0.525, go to:

https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/A_1906-1220-0-525