Dawn At Isawa In Kai Province: Painting Analysis

The Dawn at Isawa in Kai Province is a painting in a collection of works titled Thirty-Six Views of Mt. Fuji, by artist Katsushika Hokusai between 1830-1833. However, even though the series is named thirty-six views, Dawn at Isawa in Kai Province is the fifth of an additional ten paintings added onto the original set of thirty-six due to the overall popularity of Katsushika Hokusai’s work. The series, as the title states, contains thirty-six various views of Mt.Fuji and the areas surrounding the mountain. Furthermore, Katsushika Hokusai featured various seasons and weather conditions throughout the region. This paper will explore Dawn at Isawa in Kai Province’s overall narrative, techniques used, the overall composition and the use of color …show more content…
Fuji. The Honolulu Museum of Art describes the composition of Dawn at Isawa in Kai Province as something that is ordinary, crowded with a large amount of people, and lacking a singular focal point for the viewer to notice. Their statement is logical, but the simplicity of the composition is what creates the realistic qualities of the scene depicted. Hokusai puts the viewer in a position in which we are viewing the entire landscape, from the village to the mountain in the distance, without any major focal points so the viewer may appreciate all of the features in this painting. Hokusai also, emphasizes viewing the painting as a whole through the placement and proportions of the various forms. The piece as a whole is asymmetric and there is more prominence towards the left side of the painting. This is to create a sense of motion with the people being key in this notion. As the people are leaving the village, there are less and less prominent features surrounding them, creating a somewhat fading away effect. Furthermore, the proportions of the overall painting further emphasises the need to view everything in the painting, possibly close up as well to get the full effect of the painting and