, known simply as Hokusai, was a Japanese ukiyo-e artist of the Edo period, active as a painter and printmaker.Nussbaum, Louis Frédéric. (2005). "Hokusai" in Japan Encyclopedia, p. 345. He is best known for the woodblock print series Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji, which includes the iconic print The Great Wave off Kanagawa. Hokusai was instrumental in developing ukiyo-e from a style of portraiture largely focused on courtesans and actors into a much broader style of art that focused on landscapes, plants, and animals. His works are thought to have had a significant influence on Vincent van Gogh and Claude Monet during the wave of Japonisme, that spread across Europe in the late 19th century.
