He typically depicted women of nobility as well as the demimonde. Eishi is known for his elongation of the figure in an effort to imbue his characters with greater elegance. His robes are full of rich patterns that required the use of complex and skilled cutting techniques for each wood block. Wood-block print Gift of Mary Alston Read Simms from the collection of Motte Alston Read in memory of him and his mother, Jane Ladson Alston Read. Hokusai's subjects ranged from animals and plants to activities of ordinary people to landscapes.
Mt. Fuji is the most revered of all Japanese landmarks.
It is an ever-recurring subject in Japanese art. In this view of Mt. Fuji from Kajikazawa in the province of Kai, from Hokusai's best known and most unified landscape series, the human element is balanced with the landscape. A solitary fisherman stands on a rock jutting out over cresting waves. The outline of the peak of Mt. Fuji appears above the mist. Wood-block print Gift of Mary Alston Read Simms from the collection of Motte Alston Read in memory of him and his mother, Jane Ladson Alston Read.