CAMBRIDGE.- A highly-rare, original Hokusai drawing will be on offer at the first Cheffins Asian Art Sale of 2019 on 4th April in Cambridge, UK.

Philippe Smolarski, Head of Asian Art at Cheffins says: “Original drawings with written inscriptions by Hokusai are almost unseen on the open market. This drawing comes with exceptional provenance from the UK-based collection of the late Stephen Keynes who acquired it from specialist Anthony d’Offay Fine Art in 1967.”

Hokusai was one of the foremost Japanese artists working in the late 18th and earlier 19th centuries, and is today best known for his depictions of Mount Fuji and the internationally iconic print, The Great Wave off Kanagawa. The drawing on offer is a preparatory version for the illustration from the famous Chinese novel, Water Margin, and depicts the hero of the story Wu Song. Hokusai illustrated the Japanese translation of the novel in 1805 for the author Kyokutei Bakin and the book became a huge success during the Edo period.

Philippe Smolarski continues: “The majority of the original Hokusai wood block prints from The Water Margin are housed in some of the largest institutions in the world, including the Met, such is their historical importance. Hokusai’s drawings popularised the characters and plot-lines of Water Margin across a variety of media for several years. After a decade in production, another famous artist Utawaga Kuniyoshi began to illustrate the stories, however he did not have quite the same power of stroke as Hokusai.”

Depicted in this drawing is the hero Wu Song (Monsin in Japanese) fighting with the god Jiangmen. The drawing dates to around 1805.

It has an estimate of £1,000 to £2,000.