Birds, Album of Sketches (Hokusai Manga)

Katsushika Hokusai

Woodblock print (block-printed in black, gray, and pale flesh tones)

Metropolitan Museum of Art

This work is a page from the celebrated Hokusai Manga, a multi-volume collection of woodblock-printed sketches first published in 1814, depicting birds rendered with Hokusai's characteristic economy of line and keen observational accuracy. The album, block-printed in black, gray, and pale flesh tones, encompasses thousands of images spanning landscapes, flora, fauna, and everyday life, and stands as one of the most ambitious compendiums of visual study in Japanese art history. Katsushika Hokusai (1760–1849), a master of the ukiyo-e tradition, used the Manga series both as an instructional resource for students and as a vehicle for his lifelong dedication to capturing the essential forms of the natural world. The bird studies exemplify his facility with brushwork and his ability to convey life and movement within the disciplined conventions of the Edo-period woodblock print.