Starting March 27, 2026, the halls of Palazzo Bonaparte in Rome will transform into a portal to Edo-period Japan. The exhibition “Hokusai. The Great Master of Japanese Art” celebrates Katsushika Hokusai (1760–1849), the artist who successfully fused the millennia-old Eastern tradition with Western perspectives, influencing geniuses such as Monet and Van Gogh.
A Treasure from Krakow
The exhibition features over 200 works from the prestigious collection of the National Museum in Krakow. Originally assembled by the discerning collector Feliks Jasieński, these woodcuts and rare objects are leaving Poland for the first time for a monographic exhibition of this magnitude in Italy.
The exhibition is not limited to the famous prints, but immerses visitors in the material culture of the era through samurai armor, precious kimonos, lacquerware, and traditional musical instruments.
Hokusai, who liked to call himself the “Old Madman of Painting,” dedicated his life to exploring the essence of nature and the human being. The beating heart of the exhibition is represented by the iconic Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji.
The Great Wave off Kanagawa stands out, an image of extraordinary poetic power where the fragility of the fishermen challenges the monumental power of the water. It is no coincidence that the master depicted water in various forms.
The exhibition also reveals the lesser-known facets of Hokusai, such as the manga that “flow freely from the brush,” precursors of contemporary visual culture that focus more on the essence. There are sketchbooks in which the art of drawing is revealed.
A fascinating section is dedicated to ghosts and apparitions, drawing on tales of the macabre (kaidan), where the supernatural blends with the everyday.
Finally, a delightful discovery was the video on Felice Beato, one of the first travel photographers, who offers us a different perspective on nineteenth-century Japan thanks to his photographs, which were later painted by local artists.
Useful Information
Where: Palazzo Bonaparte, Piazza Venezia 5, Rome.
Dates: March 27 – June 29, 2026.
Full-price ticket €18 .50, reduced tickets from €8.50 to €17.50. Promotions: 25% discount for holders of Frecciarossa tickets bound for Rome.
