Signed: Zen Hokusai I’itsu hitsu; ōban, yoko-e, 25.8 x 37.9 cm; aizuri-e with fukibokashi

From “36 Views of Mount Fuji”. On an overhanging cliff a fisherman is pulling the lines of his net tight in a storm. Behind him, his companion is cowering in a fish basket. Out of the mist, the outline of Fuji emerges in front of white bands of clouds. This is a pure aizuri-e, executed in a fascinating range of bero-ai (“Berlin blue”). Masterfully composed, this print is also in excellent condition, only the red of the publisher’s and censor’s seals is slightly faded.

Sotheby’s, London (March 1973); R. E. Lewis, San Francisco (April 1973)
Riese Collection #121

This is a particularly fine impression of a design which is among the finest, yet among the rarest, of the entire series. Although late impressions are printed with many colours, the earliest are entirely blue, as here, with the seals of the censor and publisher printed in red in the lower right-hand corner.
Another impression, also in blue, but later than this, with the outer line of the cartouche broken and lacking the blue printing on the cone of the mountain, is reproduced in Ukiyo-e Taikei, vol. 8, no. 30.