Fuji over a Bank (Tsutsumigoshi no Fuji): Half of detatched page from One Hundred Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku hyakkei) Vol. 2 Possibly 1835 - 1836

Curator: Hokusai's "Fuji over a Bank" from his "One Hundred Views of Mount Fuji" presents a slice of life against the backdrop of the iconic mountain. Editor: It feels a little precarious, doesn’t it? The figures dwarfed by the landscape, balanced on logs and narrow paths. Curator: Precarious, yes, but also deeply symbolic. Mount Fuji, though unseen, is a constant presence, a kind of spiritual anchor in the flux of daily toil. Editor: And the materials! It's just a woodblock print, ink on paper, yet it captures movement, texture, and a sense of the everyday labor of the people depicted. We see the transport of goods. Curator: Exactly. The artist uses the mundane to elevate the symbolic, suggesting an eternal presence. Editor: The ordinary elevated by the promise of the sublime. I’m left contemplating the weight of simple living.