Hokusai, Hiroshige, Hasui: Japanese Masters in Turin Exhibition

The Pinacoteca Agnelli in Turin presents 'Hokusai, Hiroshige, Hasui. Viaggio nel Giappone che cambia', curated by Rossella Menegazzo and Sara Thompson. The exhibition features one hundred woodblock prints by three legendary Japanese artists: Katsushika Hokusai and Utagawa Hiroshige, masters of the 19th-century 'Floating World' (ukiyo-e), and Kawase Hasui, a leading figure of the shin hanga (new prints) movement, shown in Italy for the first time. Hasui experimented with polychrome woodblock techniques from the Meiji era (1868–1912) until the mid-1950s, when he was designated a 'Living National Treasure'. The show traces sociocultural shifts between the 19th and 20th centuries, when Western influence permeated Japan and ukiyo-e prints became mass-produced commodities accessible to the bourgeoisie. Highlights include Hokusai's iconic 'The Great Wave', Hiroshige's 'Evening Snow', and Hasui's 'Pond at Benten Shrine in Shiba', which evokes the cinematic style of Hayao Miyazaki. The exhibition also explores japonisme's impact on Western artists such as Monet, van Gogh, Toulouse-Lautrec, and Degas. Art historian Henri Focillon's writings on Hokusai frame the curatorial approach. The show is described as contemplative, elevating prints often overshadowed by their own fame.