Shell Gathering

This scene of springtime shell-gathering was hand-painted by Katsushika Hokusai, one of the most well known ukiyo-e artists of the late Edo period. Hokusai captured images of women and children in a vast space, emphasizing distance with a colorful touch. The presentation of spaciousness and the shading, effectively utilizing an ink gradation in the distant mountains and rocks, are both signs of western painting influences mastered by the artist through studying copper-plate prints, for example. The women with animated expressions are typical Hokusai beauties.