Mount Fuji Painting Hokusai Monet The surface of the water

The surface of the water doubles every colour

A narrow earthen path winds upward through a wildflower meadow

Their saddles and packs sway with the rhythm of the march as they kick up soft trails of sand

in the manner of an antique natural-history illustration

The brushwork is loose and tender

Mount Fuji Painting Hokusai Monet The surface of the waterThis classic Japanese woodblock scene reimagines Mount Fuji reflected in the glassy surface of a lake, its snow touched peak glowing golden against a banded turquoise sky. Rolling hills in stylised greens frame the shore, dotted with thatched roof cottages, clustered trees and winding waterways drawn in the flat, decorative manner of the ukiyo e tradition. A small boat with a lone figure drifts across the still water, and an inscribed title cartouche