Hokusai woodcut show opens in Berlin

[August 25, 2011]  BERLIN (AP) -- A retrospective spanning the 70-year career of Katsushika Hokusai, the master of the Japanese woodcut print, is going on show in Berlin.

The exhibition at Martin Gropius Bau charts Hokusai's work through his many phases. From the sublime to the ridiculous, from Fuji to frogs, there's a bit of everything.

The centerpiece is the acclaimed "36 Views of Mount Fuji" series, complete with the artist's signature image, "The Great Wave off the Coast of Kanagawa," in which a huge wave towers over boats in front of Fuji's distinctive cone.

Curator Seiji Nagata notes that Hokusai was already 70 when he produced the Fuji prints -- and says he wanted to show a wider selection reflecting his whole career.

The exhibition opens to the public Friday and runs through Oct. 24.

[Associated Press]

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