HOKUSAI. L’acqua e il segreto della Grande Onda (Water and the SECRET of the Great Wave)

The artistic genius of Katsushika Hokusai, undisputed master of Ukiyo-e, comes to life in a major exhibition hosted by the “Luigi Bailo” Civic Museum in Treviso. The exhibition offers an innovative look at the creative process of the great master of the Edo period.
The exhibition curated and conceived by Paolo Linetti, in collaboration with the Mnemosyne Association, will open on Saturday, March 29, and will be open until Sunday, Sept. 28, 2025.

Famous for his extraordinary and now proverbial ability to capture the power and dynamism of water, Hokusai was able to create an uncanny dialogue with European culture, transcending the geographic, but above all political, boundaries of a Japan that at the time was experiencing its historical phase of maximum contrast and isolation toward Europe. His genius was born from the incredible fusion of scientific rigor and boundless imagination: each work, like a bridge between the real and the dreamlike, highlights his ability to deeply analyze and understand nature, transfiguring the visible, earthly and tangible into universal and mystical value.

“HOKUSAI – Water and the SECRET of the Great Wave” will, therefore, unveil the artist’s compositional technique in an in-depth and unprecedented way.Through the exhibition of about 150 works, it will be possible to understand the method by which Hokusai created his most famous works, where subliminal references to the classical models of some Renaissance masters are also found.
Through comparisons with works by authors contemporary with him such as Kunisada, Utamaro, and Kuniyoshi, the exhibition also highlights the modernity of Hokusai’s graphic rendering, his technique, and the profound impact his style had on subsequent generations.

10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
closing day Wednesday

‘HOKUSAI’ EXHIBITION TICKETS
Full: €13
Reduced: €10
Special Reduced (schools, 6-18 years old, ICOM, people with disabilities): €7