Exhibition catalogue design for 'Hokusai: The Great Picture Book of Everything' at the British Museum

Sandra Zellmer

Exhibition catalogue design for 'Hokusai: The Great Picture Book of Everything' at the British Museum

Research output: Non-textual form › Design

Abstract

This five-star exhibition showcased a collection of rare drawings by Katsushika Hokusai – one of Japan's most celebrated artists, best known for his iconic print, 'Under the Wave' off Kanagawa, popularly called 'The Great Wave'.

In a global first, this exhibition displayed 103 recently acquired drawings by Hokusai, produced in the 1820s–1840s for an illustrated encyclopedia called 'The Great Picture Book of Everything'. For reasons unknown, the book was never published, presenting the opportunity to see these exceptional works which would otherwise have been destroyed as part of the woodblock printing process.

Depicting scenes from Buddhist India, ancient China and the natural world, the brush drawings not only showcased Hokusai's inimitable style and skill, but also revealed a version of 19th-century Japan much more intrigued by the wider world than previously thought.

As well as offering the unique chance to study Hokusai's masterful brushwork directly, the show shone a light on the last chapter of the artist's career and life, uncovering a restless talent that burned brightly into his final years.

In addition to the original brush drawings, the exhibition showcased Hokusai's masterpiece 'The Great Wave', alongside objects that gave further insight into his working practices and demonstrated the intricate process by which his woodblock prints were created.

This publication accompanies the exhibition
Hokusai: The Great Picture Book of Everything
at the British Museum from 30 September 2021
to 30 January 2022.

First published in the United Kingdom in 2021
by The British Museum Press

A division of The British Museum Company
The British Museum
Great Russell Street
London WC1B 3DG
britishmuseum.org/publishing

Hokusai: The Great Picture Book of Everything
© 2021 The Trustees of the British Museum

ISBN: 978 0 7141 2489 6

Designed by Sandra Zellmer

Original language	English
Place of Publication	London
Publisher	The British Museum Press
Publication status	Published - 1 Sept 2021

Keywords

book design
art history
Japanese wood block printing

Access to Document

Cite this

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title = "Exhibition catalogue design for 'Hokusai: The Great Picture Book of Everything' at the British Museum",

abstract = "This five-star exhibition showcased a collection of rare drawings by Katsushika Hokusai – one of Japan's most celebrated artists, best known for his iconic print, 'Under the Wave' off Kanagawa, popularly called 'The Great Wave'.In a global first, this exhibition displayed 103 recently acquired drawings by Hokusai, produced in the 1820s–1840s for an illustrated encyclopedia called 'The Great Picture Book of Everything'. For reasons unknown, the book was never published, presenting the opportunity to see these exceptional works which would otherwise have been destroyed as part of the woodblock printing process.Depicting scenes from Buddhist India, ancient China and the natural world, the brush drawings not only showcased Hokusai's inimitable style and skill, but also revealed a version of 19th-century Japan much more intrigued by the wider world than previously thought. As well as offering the unique chance to study Hokusai's masterful brushwork directly, the show shone a light on the last chapter of the artist's career and life, uncovering a restless talent that burned brightly into his final years. In addition to the original brush drawings, the exhibition showcased Hokusai's masterpiece 'The Great Wave', alongside objects that gave further insight into his working practices and demonstrated the intricate process by which his woodblock prints were created.This publication accompanies the exhibition Hokusai: The Great Picture Book of Everything at the British Museum from 30 September 2021 to 30 January 2022. First published in the United Kingdom in 2021 by The British Museum PressA division of The British Museum Company The British Museum Great Russell StreetLondon WC1B 3DG britishmuseum.org/publishingHokusai: The Great Picture Book of Everything {\textcopyright} 2021 The Trustees of the British Museum ISBN: 978 0 7141 2489 6Designed by Sandra Zellmer",

keywords = "book design, art history, Japanese wood block printing",

author = "Sandra Zellmer",

note = "In the designs I made an attempt to keep the nod on traditional book design. The aim was to make it look elegant and light. The wood block prints are represented in their original size. [The British Museum Website] Shortlisted in the Exhibition Catalogues category in the British Book Design and Production Awards 2022. The accompanying hardback title to the British Museum exhibition Hokusai: The Great Picture Book of Everything. This landmark publication documents a major new discovery of over 100 drawings by the foremost Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai. Acquired by the British Museum in 2020, these previously unpublished drawings had been forgotten for over 70 years. All 103 exquisite drawings are reproduced at full size for the first time. Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) is considered by many to be Japan{\textquoteright}s greatest artist. During his seventy-year career, he produced a considerable oeuvre of some 3,000 colour prints, illustrations for over 200 books, hundreds of drawings and over 1,000 paintings. This exciting collection of over 103 exquisite small drawings were made for an unpublished book called The Great Picture Book of Everything – featuring wide-ranging subjects from depictions of religious, mythological, historical and literary figures to animals, birds, flowers and other natural phenomena, as well as landscapes. They are dominated by subjects that relate to ancient China and India, also Southeast and Central Asia. Many subjects found in the collection are not found in previous Hokusai works, including fascinating imaginings of the origin of human culture in ancient China. This beautifully produced book draws on the latest research, illustrating the complete set of drawings, published for the first time. {\textquoteleft}A worthy addition to any collection{\textquoteright} – International Examiner {\textquoteleft}Cleverly produced{\textquoteright} – The New European “Hokusai: The Great Picture Book of Everything … is both an important contribution to the existing scientific knowledge of the work of this outstanding Japanese artist and an important illustrative source for researchers representing such fields as art, history, sinology, Japanese studies, Korean studies, cultural anthropology and cognitive anthropology. For a reader who is not professionally connected with any of the scientific disciplines, Hokusai{\textquoteright}s mastery of drawing may prove to be an inspiration to broaden their knowledge in the field of history of art and history of culture.” – Ethos, quarterly magazine",

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N2 - This five-star exhibition showcased a collection of rare drawings by Katsushika Hokusai – one of Japan's most celebrated artists, best known for his iconic print, 'Under the Wave' off Kanagawa, popularly called 'The Great Wave'.In a global first, this exhibition displayed 103 recently acquired drawings by Hokusai, produced in the 1820s–1840s for an illustrated encyclopedia called 'The Great Picture Book of Everything'. For reasons unknown, the book was never published, presenting the opportunity to see these exceptional works which would otherwise have been destroyed as part of the woodblock printing process.Depicting scenes from Buddhist India, ancient China and the natural world, the brush drawings not only showcased Hokusai's inimitable style and skill, but also revealed a version of 19th-century Japan much more intrigued by the wider world than previously thought. As well as offering the unique chance to study Hokusai's masterful brushwork directly, the show shone a light on the last chapter of the artist's career and life, uncovering a restless talent that burned brightly into his final years. In addition to the original brush drawings, the exhibition showcased Hokusai's masterpiece 'The Great Wave', alongside objects that gave further insight into his working practices and demonstrated the intricate process by which his woodblock prints were created.This publication accompanies the exhibition Hokusai: The Great Picture Book of Everything at the British Museum from 30 September 2021 to 30 January 2022. First published in the United Kingdom in 2021 by The British Museum PressA division of The British Museum Company The British Museum Great Russell StreetLondon WC1B 3DG britishmuseum.org/publishingHokusai: The Great Picture Book of Everything © 2021 The Trustees of the British Museum ISBN: 978 0 7141 2489 6Designed by Sandra Zellmer

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