Art Complete set of Hokusai's Fujisan woodblock prints on auction in March

Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) was a master Japanese ukiyo-e woodblock printmaker in Edo, now Tokyo. The Mt. Fuji series, which is among his most celebrated works, depicts the peak of Japan's highest mountain, southwest of Tokyo, from different vantage points in different seasons, according to information on Christie's website. "Some prints in this set are earlier impressions, while others are later. This series was not issued as a set but was published in several instalments," said Murakami. In March, a single print of "The Great Wave off Kanagawa" from the same series sold for USD 2.76 million at Christie's. Murakami said the earlier auction is not "comparable" to the upcoming one for a full set. According to the auction house, the seller is a U.S. citizen.

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Mikawa Ossan said:

If I had millions of dollars, this is the kind of art I might consider buying. It's famous, limited, and I like it.

The biggest problem with owning it would probably be theft prevention. I'd probably loan it to museums...as long as they can protect it against vandals.

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There are likely fewer than ten complete collections that exist in the world. The series includes "Under the Well of the Great Wave Off Kanagawa," from 1831, with Mount Fuji rising behind soaring claw-like blue waves enveloping the boats thrusting through them. It has become an iconic image, reproduced on coffee cups, sneakers and even curtains worldwide. However, prominent museums mostly hold treasured sets, including the Metropolitan Museum, the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, the British Museum, and the Bibliothèque Nationale of France. A complete set sold at Sotheby's for $1.47 million in 2002, though the buyer remains anonymous. The series is considered the most outstanding work by the artist, born in 1760 and began working on woodblocks at a young age. He was an Ukiyo-e artist — famous for prints that celebrated the daily lives of people in the countryside and cities, their travels and the country's serene landscapes in sumptuous colours and exquisite detail. When his work, along with that of other Ukiyo-e artists of that period, was discovered by French artists, they were fascinated. The Japanese artists and Hokusai, in particular, had an extraordinary influence on the Impressionists because, as one admirer wrote at the time, the work revealed "an unsuspected page in the great book of world art." That influence became known as Japonisme.

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