Primary sourcePaintingEarly 19th century

Sparrows and Autumn Grasses

Katsushika Hokusai · Early 19th century

A signed hanging scroll painting by Hokusai of two sparrows among autumn plants, done in ink and color on silk.

This signed scroll is Hokusai's own painting, showing his range beyond woodblock prints.

Ask Hokusai about this source View the original

Hanging scroll painting on yellowish silk of two sparrows, one in flight at upper right and one perched on a grey rock at lower right, beside autumn plants with grasses, purple bellflowers, white blossoms, and a grasshopper at left. — Katsushika Hokusai, Sparrows and Autumn Grasses, early 19th century. Ink and color on silk.

About this source

What it is

This hanging scroll painting, made in ink and color on silk in the early 19th century, is signed by Hokusai Iitsu and sealed Hyaku, names used by Katsushika Hokusai. It measures roughly 128 by 49 centimeters.

Why it matters

Beyond his famous prints, Hokusai also painted directly on silk and paper, and this scroll shows his skill in a more traditional painting format. The subject—sparrows and autumn grasses—is a classic theme in Japanese painting, showing how Hokusai worked within established artistic traditions as well as creating new print designs.

Look closer

How does the artist arrange the birds and plants across the scroll?
What mood or season does the painting suggest, and how?
Why might an artist sign a painting with a different name than the one most people know him by today?

This painting is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Hokusai on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

More Hokusai sources

Meet the AI Hokusai →

Woodcut print in blue, cream and tan tones of a huge curling wave with claw-like foam fingers rising over two boats full of rowers. Small Mount Fuji appears in the distance under a pale sky. Japanese calligraphy sits in a cartouche at upper left.

Painting

Primary source

The Great Wave off Kanagawa

Katsushika Hokusai · 1830

Woodblock print page from Hokusai Manga with Japanese characters. Two men carry loads on poles over their shoulders; the man on the right carries a large hanging sack. A child carries a basket on a pole, and a crouching figure with a basket sits in the lower center beside a large basket.

Painting

Primary source

Man with Filarial Elephantiasis

Katsushika Hokusai · 1834

Woodcut print in ink on paper showing a scene at a wooden outhouse. A samurai with two swords peers out from a window of the latrine building. Outside, a bald man carries a large wooden bucket on a pole, and another man crouches in the foreground. Japanese text and a signature appear in the margins.

Painting

Primary source

Samurai Visiting a Latrine

Hokusai Katsushika · 1834

Colour woodblock print of Mount Fuji with a red-brown peak streaked with white snow, under a deep blue sky filled with rows of white, layered clouds. Dark green slopes fill the lower foreground. A vertical title cartouche with printed characters sits at the upper left.

Painting

Primary source

Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji

Katsushika Hokusai · c. 1830-1832

Woodblock print of a red-and-yellow rowing boat on a dark blue pond with lotus leaves. Several women in red and pink robes sit and kneel in the boat, one at the stern holding a long pole, others reaching toward the water. A green bank with bushes is at left, and a poem cartouche is at upper right.

Painting

Primary source

Women in a Rowing Boat on a Lotus Pond

Hokusai Katsushika

Ready when you are

Start chatting with Hokusai now.

20 messages free · No credit card · Available in 50+ languages.

Trial Humy for free Get a quote for institutions