Japan's most famous ukiyo-e printmaker in the Edo period (1603–1868), Katsushika Hokusai (1760–1849), was the author of a world-famous work: The Great Wave off Kanagawa (1831), which is among the equally famous "Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji." The man who nicknamed himself "the drawing madman" also gained fame with his popular erotic and fantastic prints and his essential collection of patterns and sketches: the Hokusai manga. This prolific artist embodies Japanese spirituality and the celebration of an animist nature through his work. The discovery of his prints was a major aesthetic shock for European artists at the end of the 19th century.
