Japanese Woodblock Print, originally published 1830-32, this is Showa era printing from recarved woodblocks published by Takamizawa

SIZE IN INCHES: oban, 15.5 x 10.5

COMMENTS: A very unique edition of Hokusai's masterpiece "The Red Fuji" with strong wood grain that is nearly identical to the first state of Hokusai's masterpiece.

ENJI TAKAMIZAWA (1870-1927) was notorious for his forgeries of woodblock prints later sold as originals. When he died, his younger brothers and son took over the business and ended the illicit activity. Enji's forgeries were so skillful that they were purchased by astute collectors, such as Frank Llyod Wright who, unaware of their origins, resold the prints to the Metropolitan Museum in New York City as originals. This print appears to be using Enji's forged wood grain block that was used to fool early 20th century collectors. Fortunately it is branded with a Takamizawa seal on the verso.

FUJI OFTEN TAKES ON A REDDISH CAST IN THE EARLY MORINING AND LATE EVENING, but few are privileged to see it bright red as in Hokusai's picture. This color appears only under special climatic conditions, one of which is that there must be many small undulating clouds in the sky. The presence of these clouds in the print suggests that Hokusai himself actually saw the mountain in this fire-red state, possibly from the vicinity of Lake Yamanaka, where the phenomenon is known to have been witnessed. The location from which Hokusai sketched this Fuji, however, is uncertain, and it seems likely that he was drawing primarily from his mind's eye. The same design appears in "One Hundred Views of Mt. Fuji," but in black and white with the mountain occupying a relatively smaller part of the surface.

The mountain stands out sharply and clearly against a deep-blue sky that seems to extend to infinity. There is volume here, and a scope that refuses to be limited by the narrow dimensions of the printed surface. The woodblock print is not a medium that lends itself to the expression of sheer grandeur, but grandeur is what Hokusai has achieved there by a bold and skillful use of uncluttered lines and basic light and color values. The colors themselves are uncomplicated -- red, brown, blue, white and two shades of green, for the most part in solid patches with a minimum of shading. But these colors have been chosen and combined with an unerring eye for their weight and value with regard to each other and to the composition as a whole. Surely it was this daring, but sensitive use of bright colors in the best Japanese woodblock prints that commended them to the Western artists of the late nineteenth century.

Fine, no flaws