Hokusai: Inspiration and Influence
Wednesday, May 21 | 6 pm
Noble Theater
$5 for Members, $15 for Non-Members
Available at the door only, no pre-registration required.
Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) is the most famous of all Japanese artists, the designer of the color woodblock print nicknamed The Great Wave has become a major icon of world art. His paintings, print designs, and book illustrations have inspired artists in many fields for over two centuries.
We will look at his interactions first with the teachers who shaped his own eclectic style, and then with his pupils (including his talented daughter), his rival artists in the competitive world of commercial printing, and the many artists around the world who never met him in person but were influenced by his work, ranging from his own lifetime to the present. For the book of the same title, see: https://mfashop.com/hokusai-inspiration-and-influence/
Friend and Sustainer members are invited to an exclusive dinner following the lecture.
Not a Friend or Sustainer member? Visit okcmoa.com/membership to join or upgrade today!
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Sarah E. Thompson is one of three curators of Japanese art at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, home of the largest collection of Japanese art outside Japan. She taught Japanese and Asian art at schools including Vassar College, Oberlin College, and the University of Oregon before coming to the MFA in 2004. From 2005 to 2010, she worked with dozens of MFA staff, volunteers, and visiting scholars from Japan and elsewhere to create an online bilingual database of the Japanese print collection, with over 50,000 works. She has published numerous books and articles and has curated many exhibitions, including Hokusai: Inspiration and Influence at the MFA, the Seattle Museum of Art, and the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City from 2023 through 2025.
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Katsushika Hokusai (Japanese, 1790-1849). Under the Wave Off Kanagawa, from the series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji, about 1830-31. Woodblock print; ink and color on paper. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, William S. and John T. Spaulding Collection, 21.6765. Photograph © 2025 Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
