Sketches

Unsigned sketches of various subjects, mainly figural and all in the distinctive style of Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849), have been cut out and pasted onto this sheet. Such sketches were the basis for the detailed copyists’ drawings used to make the initial block in the production of ukiyo-e woodblock prints.

The overall effect is reminiscent of the printed sketch books and drawing manuals Hokusai produced over his career, in which he grouped drawings, often of the same subject matter, together on the page.