Nakahara in Sagami Province (Sōshū Nakahara), from the series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku sanjūrokkei)
Katsushika Hokusai Japanese
Not on view
Intrigued by the compositional potential of the plank bridge in the foreground of the upper print, Hokusai appears to have excerpted and used it as the central structuring motif in the lower print. Like a stage, all action takes place on or within the space created by the wooden structure. Hokusai's tendency to repeat the peaked form of the mountain throughout a print's design is seen here in the construction of the thatched rooftops as well in the rattle-laden rope lines used by fishermen to scare off hungry birds. This type of controlled vision is absent from the upper print, the design of which is far less focused and ordered.
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