Hokusai's Daughter

[Shisendo]

A novel called The Ghost Brush, by Katherine Govier, was released in Canada last week (scheduled for September in the US). The reason I mention it in the Art forum is because it posits that Hokusai's daughter, Oei, is responsible for many of the prints created in the last ten years of Hokusai's life that are either unattributed or considered forgeries by art historians. I've included a link that goes directly to page 5 of the image gallery on The Ghost Brush website, which displays a print attributed to Oei that is a part of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts collection. At this point, I'd just like to turn this thread over to any of the art history students on our forum and ask if they are aware of this possibility that Oei might be responsible for more works than she is given credit for, and how much credence this theory has in art history circles right now.
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Over a Hedge

[lordameth]

I have not heard of this theory at all, and it does seem like the kind of thing a novelist might come up with just to add interesting twists to her novel, and to expand upon the life of a historical figure about whom very little is actually known.

I don't mean that disparagingly at all, btw. But it does seem a relatively common sort of thing to do in historical fiction.

Now, there may very well be proper academic articles out there discussing this possibility (especially in Japanese scholarship, where there's a much greater volume of work in general, and presumably on Oi in particular as well)... I just haven't seen them.

It's a most interesting idea...
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My blog on Japanese art & history: http://chaari.wordpress.com

紫水晶殿 - The Amethyst Lord

[Shisendo]

Thanks for following up lordameth. My first thought was novelist invention, but after delving into the site and seeing a couple Oei prints that looked far different from the Hokusai woodcuts I am familiar with, I began to wonder if there was something more to it than intuition. If you or anyone else comes across an academic perspective on the topic, please share it here.
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Over a Hedge

[lordameth]

I certainly will. She's a fascinating figure, and an amazing painter; I'm always on the lookout for more about her.
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My blog on Japanese art & history: http://chaari.wordpress.com

紫水晶殿 - The Amethyst Lord

[Isogai]

I am also agreed this is not novelist invention.

To tell the truth in addition- I have the Hokusai-themed novel by Russian wrighter,published in early 1970s, who also takes this version as true.

But more importantly- if I understand a tradition true such things is not uncommon in ukiyo-e.

As for examle, examining and translating this print by Kunisada from my collection:



I've, besides all have found that this page also is signed by Utagawa Kuniteru (Kunisada's pupil) on the girl's kimono.



It's a possibility , that he made some part of the painting (not carving or printing) job for this page.

As Hokusai's daughter possibly did on some of his late works...
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[lordameth]

Interesting stuff. Thanks for sharing this!
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My blog on Japanese art & history: http://chaari.wordpress.com

紫水晶殿 - The Amethyst Lord

[Isogai]

You are wellcome.
I'll try to be usefull in the future also.
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[Shisendo]

I don't doubt that Hokusai supervised a number of apprentices who contributed to his work and established styles of their own. Still, it seems to me that there is a distinctive style to the Views of Mt. Fuji that says Hokusai more than the pieces that came out toward the end of his life that bear the influence of other artists.
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Over a Hedge

[Isogai]

As I understand, in Japan they do not considering Hiroshige and Hokusai, as "the greatests", like we do in the West, thanksgiven to the Impresionists.
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[Shisendo]

[lordameth]

Besides, the Japanese are crazy about the Impressionists, more so perhaps even than we are in the West.
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My blog on Japanese art & history: http://chaari.wordpress.com

紫水晶殿 - The Amethyst Lord

[Isogai]

[Shisendo]

[Isogai]

That's right.
They (Hokusai and Hiroshoige) are geniuos.
Especialy in lanscape.
Kunisada is fine and one of my favorite.
As I understan they like him for being a head of large Utagawa school, living may pupiles, working in traditional genres etc.
They say H.& H. as "too much Westernalised".
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[lordameth]

I have never heard of Hokusai or Hiroshige being less popular in Japan, or of Kunisada being particularly well-loved. Kuniyoshi, maybe.

But in any case, it's certainly true that both drew extensively from Western influences, including use of Western-style perspective. That's part of what made them so popular among Western audiences.
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My blog on Japanese art & history: http://chaari.wordpress.com

紫水晶殿 - The Amethyst Lord

[heron]

I went to a Vincent van Gogh exhibition in Tokyo recently; he is enormously popular in Japan, perhaps partly because he was so open to Japanese art, and his work shows this influence. I think these cross cultural exchanges in art in the 18th and 19th centuries are fascinating.

(And I think I am going to have to order The Ghost Brush: it sounds very good)

[Shisendo]

[Isogai]