Ōgata Gekkō

Like many other Japanese print artists, Ogata Gekkō was inspired by Hokusai. However, he managed to emerge from the great Japanese artist's shadow and establish his own style. One can see from his delicate, almost watercolor-like prints that his artistic career began with decorating porcelain with delicate paintings. Equally delicate and fragile are his woodblock prints, which mainly have motifs of Japanese landscapes, simple people and famous Japanese rulers. Beautiful women, Kabuki actors and scenes from the history and folklore of Japan are typical for the prints of the Japanese artist. They are attributed to the style of ukiyo-e and were very popular during Ogata Gekkō's lifetime. To this day, the original works enjoy great popularity. He was one of the first artists in Japan who also had a large international audience and whose works enjoyed and still enjoy great popularity outside Japan. What is special about Ogata Gekkō is that he is self-taught and taught himself the craft. This is probably where his incomparably individual style comes from, setting him apart from other artists of his time. Nevertheless, he was strongly inspired by woodblock artists such as Kikuchi Yōsai and Hokusai. Similar to the latter, he also produced a series of depictions of Mount Fuji that includes hundreds of prints. The series depicts the sacred mountain in a wide variety of perspectives and lighting moods. Studies such as these shaped Ogata Gekkō's style enormously.