Katsushika Hokusai
It is one of the most famous prints from Hokusai's celebrated Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji series, published around 1830 to 1832. The series offers different perspectives of Japan’s most famous mountain. As well as being Japan’s highest mountain, Fuji’s symmetry and proximity to the important city of Edo (modern-day Tokyo) made it a popular subject for the arts and an enduring symbol of Japan.
In this print, Mount Fuji is rendered ominously in strong heavy tones. The contours of the mountainside are more textured and defined. The snowy cap rises sharply over a darkly menacing base that has been split by a bolt of lightning, rendered with powerful, almost abstract, zigzag lines. A thin line of Prussian blue is used in the upper portion of the sky, but here the clouds have a smoke-like quality and appear to cling to the mountain. The three peaks at the summit suggest that this view is of the back of Fuji as seen from the West.
This print reminded me of a Hokusai exhibition I visited last year with our Art Journal; it is a perfect notebook to write down your thoughts about the art you look at. Check it out here. :)
P.S. Here you can see six popular prints from Hokusai's series: among them is The Great Wave!