Award-winning novelist Katherine Govier will wait until her new novel is published in the spring of 2010 by HarperCollins before joining us at Kogawa house to discuss the life of Katsushika Hokusai, the Ukiyo-e artist who created The Great Wave Off Kanagawa, and his daughter Oi.
One of the most widely recognized woodblock prints of the 19th-century, The Great Wave established Hokusai’s reputation around the world. But who was Hokusai? Very little documentation remains about the life of this eccentric artist—who lived 90 years, double the life expectancy at the time—and in 93 “temporary lodgings” with his devoted daughter.
Is it possible that he created the roughly 10,000 very disparate works of art that are credited to him? Oi was a great painter in her own right but seldom signed her work. She was at his side from his mid-sixties (her mid-twenties) until his death. Was she the “Ghost Painter”?
Govier explores this question in her ninth novel, to be published next spring by HarperCollins. Govier demonstrates Oi’s contributions to her father’s art through slides and discussion.
Please watch this website next spring for details of this postponed event.