This exhibition presents works by the two great 19th-century Masters of the “Floating World”, Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) and Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858), alongside modern prints by Kawase Hasui (1883-1957), a key member of the shin hanga (“new prints”) movement. Hasui developed new subjects and themes in woodblock color print through the mid-1950s, when he was named a “Living national treasure” in 1956. Through a selection of extraordinary woodblock color prints by these three masters, Katsushika Hokusai, Utagawa Hiroshige, and Kawase Hasui, the exhibition will take visitors on a journey through the most evocative places in Japan, both real and imaginary. It will illustrate the art of a country that underwent a huge transformation because of the influence of the West between the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. The Floating World of Katsushika Hokusai and Utagawa Hiroshige unfolds, along with its transformation under the tastes of a society that increasingly aspired to European canons, a change to which Kawase Hasui bears witness. Organized by: PRESENTING SPONSORS: Theodore W. Brickman Jr. and Sally B. Brickman Endowment for Exhibitions of 18th and 19th Century Art The Laura T. Buck Exhibition Endowment The Yela “Peter” and Derek Fowler Endowment for Acquisitions and Exhibitions Molly Butler Hart and Michael D. Griffin Joan and Michael Hoben Patricia M. Patten Endowment Estate of Glee and Robert Ries Endowment Roberta and James W. Titelman Endowment for Exhibitions Charlotte Stifel SUPPORTING SPONSORS: Emily and Ned Sherwood Charlotte and Henry G. Stifel Endowment for Exhibitions Harvey and Mary Struthers PATRON SPONSORS: Branden Charitable Gift Fund Broadbent Family Foundation Lisa And Willie Bullock John and Polly La Duc Carol Mahony Patricia Petersen Sandy and Randy Rolf Endowment for Exhibitions ADDITIONAL SUPPORT: PNC Private Bank Schumann Foundation Endowment for Exhibitions Photo Credit: Katsushika Hokusai (Japanese, 1760–1849), Under the Wave off Kanagawa (Kanagawa-oki nami-ura), also known as the Great Wave, from the series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku sanjūrokkei), ca. 1830–31 (Tenpō 1–2). Woodblock print (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper. Nellie Parney Carter Collection—Bequest of Nellie Parney Carter. Photograph courtesy Museum of Fine Arts, Boston