South Wind, Clear Sky (Gaifū kaisei), also known as Red Fuji, from the series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku sanjūrokkei)
Hokusai’s “Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji” is justly celebrated as one of the world’s greatest series of images of various conditions and vantage points of a particular place, in this case, the mountain synonymous with Japan. Juxtaposed here with the clear brilliant calm of “South Wind, Clear Sky” (the “Red Fuji”), the Storm Below Fuji reveals the expressive range and power of Hokusai’s vision. Forky across the inky base, a bolt of white lightning dramatizes the sudden change from a cloud filled summer sky to the murky violence that obscures all below Fuji’s magnificent cone.
This series created such a sensation that the publisher Eijudo expanded the original conception to eventually include forty-six prints in this series. Another version pulled from the same block includes a line of trees, dimly visible in the rain below the mountain, but this print more effectively implies the awesome moment of the summer storm by eliminating this explicit depiction of rain.
This series is noted for its particular blue color, called “Berlin indigo” (bero-ai), a pigment newly introduced by Dutch merchants.
Artwork Details
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Title: South Wind, Clear Sky (Gaifū kaisei), also known as Red Fuji, from the series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku sanjūrokkei)
Artist: Katsushika Hokusai (Japanese, Tokyo (Edo) 1760–1849 Tokyo (Edo))
Period: Edo period (1615–1868)
Medium: Woodblock print; ink and color on paper
Dimensions: 9 5/8 x 14 in. (24.4 x 35.6 cm)
Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1914
Accession Number: JP9
Signature: Hokusai aratame Iitsu hitsu
[ William S. and JohnT. Spaulding , Boston, until 1914; sold to MMA]
Nagoya City Museum. “Ukiyo-e from the Metropolitan Museum of Art,” April 14, 1995–May 28, 1995.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. “A Sensitivity to the Seasons: Spring and Summer,” December 17, 2005–June 4, 2006.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art. “Discovering Japanese Art: American Collectors and the Met,” February 14 – September 27, 2015.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art [The Met Breuer]. “Marsden Hartley’s Maine,” March 15–June 18, 2017.
> Mount Fuji
Japan’s most easily recognizable mountain, Mount Fuji, is the subject of many pieces of art and photography and has been for quite some time. Shop this collection of art dedicated to the snow-capped mountain.
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- Fuji No Yukei (An Evening View Of Fuji) By Utagawa Kuniyoshi
- Inume Pass In the Kai Province, Japan, With Mount Fuji In the Background
- Japan, Yamanashi Prefecture, Fuji-Yoshida, Chureito Pagoda, Mt Fuji and Cherry Blossoms
- Japan, Fuji, Hakone, Izu National Park, Mt Fuji and Kawaguchi Ko Lake
- Shichiri Beach In Sagami By Katsushika Hokusai
- Japan, Yamanashi Prefecture, Kawaguchi Ko Lake and Mt Fuji
- Mt. Fuji with fall colors in japan.
- Fuji, Mountains in clear Weather, 1831, Katsushika (1760-1849)
- Sunflowers Oshino Yamanashi Japan
- Kajikazawa In Kai Province By Katsushika Hokusai
- View Of Mount Fuji In Japan
- Japan, Yamanashi Prefecture, Fuji-Yoshida, Chureito Pagoda and Mt Fuji
- Fisherman On A Lake Near Mount Fuji, 1855
- Japan, Yamanashi Prefecture, Fuji-Yoshida, Chureito Pagoda, Mt Fuji and Cherry Blossoms
- Japan, Yamanashi Prefecture, Kawaguchi Ko Lake and Mt Fuji
- ‘Fuji in Clear Weather’, from the series ’36 Views of Mount Fuji’
- Japan, Fuji, Hakone, Izu National Park, Mt Fuji and Kawaguchi Ko Lake
- View Of A Village Near Mount Fuji In Japan
- Japan, Yamanashi Prefecture, Fuji-Yoshida, Chureito Pagoda, Mt Fuji and Cherry Blossoms
- Mount Fuji at sunset, Japan.
- Dragon Rising To The Heavens By Ogata Gekko
- Mountain Fuji With Morning Fog And Red Leaves At Lake Kawaguchiko
- Shichirigahama in Sagami Province, from the series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji
- Pine Groves And Mount Fuji On Miho Bay In Suruga Province, Japan, c1850
- A View Of Mount Fuji In Japan
- Japan, Yamanashi Prefecture, Kawaguchi Ko Lake and Mt Fuji
- Tokyo Tower and Mt. Fuji from Shiodome, Tokyo, Japan
- Mt. Fuji With Chureito Pagoda, Fujiyoshida, Japan
- Mishima Pass in Kai Province, from the series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji
- Mt. Fuji, Japan
- Mt. Fuji below full moon, Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan
- Black And White Japan Collection – Mt. Fuji
- South Wind, Clear Dawn, from the series ’36 Views of Mount Fuji’, c.1830-1831
- Japan, Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park, Mount Fuji capped in snow
- Traveling Bullet Train
- Mount Fuji
- Japan, Yamanashi Prefecture, Fuji-Yoshida, Chureito Pagoda, Mt Fuji and Cherry Blossoms
- Mt. Fuji and Pagoda during the fall in Japan.
- Cherry Blossoms And Mt. Fuji, Japan
- Bushu Tamagawa (The Tama River In Musashi Province) By Katsushika Hokusai
- Kawaguchiko & Mt. Fuji, Japan
- Mount Fuji Under the Snow
- Mt Fuji
- Lake Motosu Oshino Yamanashi Japan
- Mt. Fuji viewed from behind Chureito Pagoda
- Honganji Temple At Asakusa In The Eastern Capital By Katsushika Hokusai
- Japan, Yamanashi Prefecture, Kawaguchi-ko Lake, Mt Fuji and Cherry Blossoms
- Japan, Fuji, Hakone, Izu National Park, Mt Fuji and Kawaguchi Ko Lake
Mount Fuji in History, Culture and Art 歴史、文化、芸術に富士山の影響
Mount Fuji occupies a special place in the Japanese imagination, for the singular beauty of its symmetrical slopes and its snow-capped top and for the religious activity which developed there. The image and importance has been illustrated in the numerous works of art throughout history.
An Object Of Religious Worship
Mount Fuji has occupied a prominent place in Japanese religions since ancient times. The first ascent of Mount Fuji was thus, according to legend, made by En no Gyoja in 663, a monk who founded of the Shugendo sect. A temple dedicated to the fiery goddess was built there in 806, which feeds the theory that the name Fuji comes from the word ainu “fuchi”, which means fire. During the Heian period (794-1185), the Court gave an honorary rank to the mountain in order to appease it, which was moreover venerated like Shingen Okami.
It was during this same period that the mountain became a center for Shugendo teaching and that the practice of ascension by ascetics developed, and even opened to laymen from the Muromachi period (1333-1573). This openness to ordinary Japanese was accentuated during the Edo period (1603-1868) with the creation of the Fuji-ko sect by Hasewaga Kakyugo, draining populations from the Kanto to the sacred mountain. A popularity which still cannot be denied today.
The Ubiquity Of Mount Fuji
The influence of Mount Fuji in Japanese arts and letters also goes back a long way. You can find a describtion written about the moutnain in the man’yoshu (-760) – the oldest compilation of Japanese poems composed between the 4th and 8th centuries. Mount Fuji is also mentioned in other classical writings as the Ise Monogatari, compound 9th century, or the Taketori Monagatari ( “The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter”) dated 10th century. In modern times, both Natsume Soseki and Osamu Dazai used Mount Fuji as inspiration for their work.
It is in the graphic arts, and in particular through the print, that Mount Fuji best expresses the importance it has in the Japanese artistic imagination and where it acquired an international reputation. The most famous works are obviously those produced by Katsushika Hokusai (the thirty-six views of Mount Fuji, where we find, for example, the Great Wave of Kanagawa) or the five-three stations of Tokaido by Utagawa Hiroshige. A large number of more minor prints also took Mount Fuji as a subject, further increasing its status as an art figure.
For further :
- 7 facts about Mount Fuji
- Fujigoko
- Mount Fuji to the 5th Station
- Mount Fuji 5th Station to the summit
- Hakone
