A Sudden Gust of Wind (after Hokusai) is a large colour photograph displayed in a light box.It depicts a flat, open landscape in which four foreground figures are frozen as they respond to a sudden gust of wind.

ONE HUNDRED MILES into the desert north of Los Angeles, at the intersection of two crumbling roads that are slowly re-assimilating into the ruddy, sunbaked earth, a flimsy, black folding umbrella—the kind that sells for $7 at a drugstore—fends off the high-noon rays from its perch on a metal stand.

It is hard to think of fin de siecle Paris without recalling the dancing girls and dandies of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec’s colorful prints. It is equally difficult to imagine work by the artist not centered on the city’s hedonistic and decadent nightlife

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec was a famed 19th-century French painter and poster artist known for works like 'The Streetwalker' and 'At the Moulin Rouge.'

Japanese printmaking was one of Vincent’s main sources of inspiration and he became an enthusiastic collector. The prints acted as a catalyst: they taught him a new way of looking at the world. But did his own work really change as a result?

Japonisme, or Japonism, is a French term that was first used by Jules Claretie in his book L’Art Francais en 1872. It refers to the influence of Japanese art on Western art. In 1854, Japan re-opened trade with the west and Japanese arts including fans, porcelains, woodcuts, and screens were introduced in huge numbers to Europe, mainly France and the Netherlands. The 1862 World’s Fair in Europe brought even more attention to Japanese art. During the 1860s ukiyo-e, Japanese woodblock prints, became very popular and were a source of inspiration to many impressionist and post impressionist artists in the west including Monet, Degas, Gauguin and Van Gogh.

Hokusai, in full Katsushika Hokusai, professional names Shunrō, Sōri, Kakō, Taito, Gakyōjin, Iitsu, and Manji, (born October 1760, Edo [now Tokyo], Japan—died May 10, 1849, Edo), Japanese master artist and printmaker of the ukiyo-e (“pictures of the floating world”) school.

Although you may not know the name Katsushika Hokusai, it’s almost guaranteed that you’ve seen at least one of his works: Under the Wave off Kanagawa (ca. 1830–32), more commonly known as The Great Wave.

Tōshūsai Sharaku, original name Saitō Jūrōbei, pseudonym Sharaku , (flourished 1794–95, , Japan), one of the most original Japanese artists of the Ukiyo-e movement (paintings and prints of the “floating world”).

In 10 months, Japanese artist Sharaku created prints that became classics – then he vanished. Adrian Hamilton is gripped by an enigma at the Tokyo National Museu