Studies of Figures 1800 - 1868

This is a drawing called "Studies of Figures" made by a member of the Hokusai School in Japan. Here we see characters and motifs drawn from a range of sources, including religion, folklore, and popular culture. In its own time, a drawing like this would have been part of a larger cultural and institutional history of artmaking in Japan. The Hokusai school was not just a place where artists learned techniques, but also a site where ideas about art and its role in society were formed and debated. The drawings may have served as models for prints or paintings, or they may have been exercises in observation and imagination. To understand the full meaning of this image, we might look to historical and cultural context. By exploring the social conditions that shaped its production, we gain insight into the complex world of Japanese art and visual culture.