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Hokusai Turtles
Posted by Dave Bull on May 6, 2006 [Permalink]
'After Hokusai' ... what does that mean? Shouldn't many of the prints in the Mokuhankan catalogue be described in a similar fashion, being made from newly-cut blocks based on existing designs? Reproductions ... reprints ... restrikes ... what a tangled mess of descriptions are used for prints like these! I am mostly going to use the word 'reproduction' for those prints in this catalogue that we have produced with a good sense of fidelity to the original version. Some of the prints may not be the same shape or size as the original, but if the design is inherently unchanged, 'reproduction' is how it will be described.
This one though, is different. There isn't enough left of the 'original' to warrant describing it as a 'Hokusai', but as he is where the 'seed' came from, it seems only fair to use his name that way.
This print is a kind of 'amalgam' of three parts. There is a page in Hokusai's famous manga collection of designs that shows two turtles in pretty much the same orientation you see here; a larger animal with a smaller one swimming nearby. It was not coloured.
Hokusai also prepared more elaborate designs for other prints depicting turtles, and it is from one of those that the colours/patterns on this turtle came.
None of those images had a background like the one here; that came from the 7th print in David's Hanga Treasure Chest, a design depicting a carp swimming (also based on a Hokusai original).
So I don't pretend that this is a 'Hokusai' design, but I have no doubt whatsoever that he would either approve of the evolution of his design this way, or at the least, wouldn't care much about it!
A 'reproduction' it isn't; an 'original' it isn't ... but whatever you call it, I hope you like it!
Click here to see a larger image of the print.
The catalogue entry for this print.
Added by: Steve Knoblock on January 11, 2008, 10:30 am
I just love the graceful depiction of the water. I have always been fascinated by the interference patterns formed on water (as waves interact on the surface) or as natural objects or animals pass through it. I noticed it in the original depiction of the carp swimming, but I think this is even more effective because the strongly rendered turtle on the surface, the pattern making the surface of the water visible and the silvery shadow of the turtle below the surface create distinct layers, which create visual interest.
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