Katsushika Hokusai 1760 – 1849 Two prints: Kuwana and Fuchu, from an untitled series of the Fifty-three Stations of the Tōkaidō Road

Japan, ca. 1804 (Edo period, Kyōwa 4 / Bunka 1 era)

1. Kuwana (Station 43): later edition without poems. Signature: Gakyōjin Hokusai ga. 

2. Fuchu (Station 20): reissue of Hokusai's Tōkaidō series for the poetry circle of Okazaki. 

This lot offers a wonderful opportunity to acquire two sheets by Japan's most famous artist, Katsushika Hokusai. Both of these small, meticulously crafted woodblock prints originate from an untitled 1804 series documenting the famous Tōkaidō road. The first print depicts the Kuwana station and is a later edition from which the accompanying poems were removed from the blocks. It bears the artist's characteristic signature Gakyōjin Hokusai ga (Hokusai, mad about drawing). The second sheet, depicting the Fuchu station, is identified as a reissue of this series originally created for the poetry circle of Okazaki. Together, they form a charming example of Hokusai's earlier landscape and genre work in an intimate, small format.