Hokusai: One-Hundred Poets

The last major print series of the celebrated Hokusai (1760-1849), these color ``Pictures of 100 Poems by 100 Poets, Explained by the Nurse''sic interpret traditional Japanese waka and tanka poetic forms visually by means of the persona of a ``nurse'' who functions as a less sophisticated viewer and commentator than the artist himself. The results are spectacular. Whether showing semi-nude women abalone divers struggling with their catch while a male crew of shriveled old salts leers from a nearby boat, or the carefree rapture of a leisurely group of men and women observing cherry blossoms at their peak, Hokusai captures with drama and delicacy sublime and ridiculous states. The artist's simplicity, though deceptive, is also remarkable: he illustrates a poem about a lovers' seaside tryst with a magnificently imposing yet unadorned sailing vessel, its small window offering a coy glimpse of the fortunate couple inside. Each print (as well as 41 black-and-white sketches of projected prints apparently never completed) is accompanied by the poem, in Japanese and English, a biographical note on the poet and by Morse's comments on literary and artistic intention and execution. Morse is a research associate at the Honolulu Academy of Arts. (Sept.)