Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) is Japan¡¯s most famous painter, if the countless reproductions of his best-known work, ¡°The Great Wave off Kanagawa,¡± are any measure.
Though for all his productivity in his 88 years, and the commercial success of his woodblock prints, Hokusai lived an itinerant life, changing residence a reported 93 times, while never escaping poverty. (Not that, with his cavalier attitude toward money, he tried very hard.)
This bumptious, eccentric genius also led a life full of incident, which has since been pored over by biographers. However, some mysteries remain, such as the contribution of his artist daughter, Oi, to his later work.
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