Hokusai`s verzameling fatsoenlijke vrouwen 1897

This is the cover for Hokusai’s ‘Collection of Decent Women’. While we don’t know exactly when it was made, Hokusai lived between 1760 and 1849 during Japan’s Edo period. The book reflects the complex social values of the time, when expectations for women were rigidly defined. The title itself suggests an effort to categorize and present women in a way that conformed to societal norms of respectability. Yet, by focusing on "decent" women, it also subtly acknowledges that there were women who existed outside of these narrow definitions. As an artist, Hokusai navigated a society marked by strict social hierarchies. His personal experiences and observations of daily life likely influenced his portrayals of women, reflecting both the constraints they faced and their individual agency within those limitations. What does it mean to be decent, then and now? The book asks us to consider the power dynamics inherent in defining and representing identity.