LONDON: More than 100 once-lost unpublished pieces of renowned Japanese ukiyo-e painter Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849), who inspired artists around the world, are set to go on display at the British Museum.

The prestigious London museum said Thursday that it has acquired a total of 103 lost drawings by the Edo period artist after they were discovered in France last year.

It plans to display the pieces as early as next year. An online exhibition of the works has already started.

The drawings were created as illustrations for a book called “Banbutsu Ehon Taizen Zu” (Great Picture Book of Everything). They were once owned by French jeweler Henri Vever, who was known as a collector of Japanese art pieces. Later, they were apparently auctioned in Paris in 1948 and became part of a French private collection.

Following their discovery in 2019, the museum bought the paintings with support from an art fund. British Museum Director Hartwig Fischer said it is great for the museum to be able to add the drawings to its collection.

Hokusai produced the pieces in 1829, around when the artist was believed not to be very active due to a series of personal challenges, including a stroke and the death of his second wife.

A curator at the museum said, “The discovery of the drawings is…significant as it helps to fill in a hitherto relatively empty period in his career.”

The production of the drawings came shortly before Hokusai created “Fugaku Sanjurokkei” (Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji), one of his masterpieces, around 1831-1833.

JIJI Press