Japanese Painting of a Bager by Great 19C Master Ukiyo-e Artist Hokusai Katsushiko 北齋 (A.D. 1760-1849)
Size About 7-3/4” x 11-3/4"
Hokusai 北齋 (A.D. 1760-1849) N. Nakajima Tamekazu 中島為一. F. N. Tokitaro 時太郎 Tetsuzo 鐵藏. Go. Katsukawa Shunro 勝川春朗, Soshunro叢春朗, Gumbatei Gyobutsu 群馬亭魚佛 Sori 宗理 Shinsai 辰齊 Kintaisha 錦袋舍Tamekazu為一 Raito 雷斗 Raishin雷震 Gakyojin 畫狂人Manjio卍翁 Manjirojin 卍老人. S. Ukiyoye school. Pupil of Shunsho. Distinquished painter of Edo period. L & C. Lived in Edo. Painted "Fugaku Hyakkei"富嶽百景(100 pictures of Mt. Fuji). Sp. landscape.
The artist, Hokusai Katsushiko, was the master of his Ukiyo'e, as well as off-hand sketches with spontaneous inventiveness. This picture was painted with intense black is one of set of sketches of the badger and the fox and finished in soft light shades. From his seal, we know that it was painted when he was 89, the year before his death.