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Katsushika Hokusai: The Endless Creative (Part 2)
Why is Hokusai's Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji so popular? And just how influential were his images on the development of Western art? Join Alastair and James as they explore the final tumultuous, and endlessly creative, decades of Hokusai's long life.
Artworks in this episode include:
Hokusai, Ejiri in Suruga Province, 1830 Hokusai, Under the Wave off Kanagawa (The Great Wave), 1831 Hokusai, Fine Wind, Clear Morning, 1831 Katsushika Ōi, Nightscene in the Yoshiwara, 1860 Tsuyuki Kōshō, Hokusai and Eijo in their lodgings, before 1893 Hokusai, Tiger in the Snow, 1849
Dr James Fox is a Cambridge art historian, bestselling author and multi award-winning broadcaster. He is Director of Studies in History of Art at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, and Creative Director of the Hugo Burge Foundation. His critically-acclaimed books on art and culture have been translated into fourteen languages. His most recent title and best-seller Craftland: a journey through Britain’s Lost Arts and Vanishing Trades (2025) has been named Waterstones Book of the Year, BBC’s book of the week and shortlisted for the Nero Book Prize. James is perhaps best known for his many arts documentaries for the BBC, including A History of Art in Three Colours, The Art of Japanese Life The Age of the Image and Nature and Us: a history through Art
Alastair Sooke is an author and broadcaster, and chief art critic at The Telegraph, for which he has been covering art since 2003. He has presented more than 60 hours of television and radio for the BBC (Modern Masters, Treasures of Ancient Egypt, An Art Lovers’ Guide) and written several books, including studies of Henri Matisse and Georges Seurat, and a history of Pop art. He is a trustee of The Ampersand Foundation and was educated at the University of Oxford and the Courtauld Institute of Art.
1:16:45
The Raft of the Medusa by Théodore Géricault
In this episode Alastair and James tell the story of a single artwork - The Raft of the Medusa by Théodore Géricault.
2:20
Trailer
Stories of Art brings together art historian Dr. James Fox and art critic Alastair Sooke to uncover the most inspiring and compelling stories from the history of art.
44:44
Monet and the Birth of Impressionism (Part 1)
In this episode Dr James Fox and Alastair Sooke tell first part of the story of Claude Monet's ‘Impression, Sunrise’ and the First Impressionist Exhibition of 1874.