Exhibition
Hokusai (1760-1849)
Masterpieces from the Hokusai-kan museum in Obuse
Over 150 works, including 40 paintings. The majority of the works on loan are leaving Japan for the first time.
Building on its ties with Osaka Castle, the musée d’histoire de Nantes regularly organizes Japanese-themed events open to the public. Following the major exhibition dedicated to samurai in 2014, and the presentation in 2021 of Toshihiro Hamano’s masterpiece recounting the life of Shōtoku Taishi, the next chapter is an exhibition devoted to Katsushika Hokusai, in partnership with the Hokusai-kan Museum, located in Obuse, outside Nagano, in the Japanese Alps.
Hokusai visited Obuse four times towards the end of his life, between 1842 and 1848, and produced several important works there: the decorations of the ceilings of the parade floats for the Higashimachi and Kanmachi districts with dragon, phoenix, and wave motifs, and the spectacular phoenix-decorated ceiling of the Ganshō-in Buddhist temple.
Today, the Hokusai-kan Museum, one of several major museums dedicated to the painter Katsushika Hokusai, is home to several hundred works by the great Japanese master. This exhibition attempts to provide an insight into the artist and the genesis of his work, not by means of a biography, as is often the case, but by developing the themes favoured by this prolific artist. These include his relationship with nature, the question of water and waves, his approach to landscape and particularly Mount Fuji—one of the artist’s preferred subjects throughout his life—but also the traditional theme of beautiful women and kabuki actors from the Edo period. Hokusai’s stays in Obuse are another theme of the exhibition, in connection with the collaboration between the two museums.
If Hokusai’s art is best known to us through his engravings as part of the ukiyo-e movement (“images of the floating world”), the exhibition also presents a significant number of original works, drawings and paintings, some of which are shown for the first time in the West.
Reserving a time slot
Only holders of tickets with a specific time slot are guaranteed access to the exhibition. This allows visitors to experience the exhibition in the best possible conditions.
Visitors with free access (holders of the Pass Musées and under 18s) also need to reserve a time slot (free of charge).
Tickets can be booked online, by telephone, or on site at the museum ticket desk.
Partners :
The exhibition’s media partners :
