It might sound a corny to say that artists live through their works, but in the case of Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849), whose lengthy life story is mired in muddles, myths and myriad name changes, it is his art that speaks with the clearest voice and that provides the scale with which to weigh the words describing his life.
This not only gives art historians and academics something to do, but also opens up and clarifies story lines in the life of the artist routinely hailed as Japan's greatest. The exhibition "Siebold & Hokusai and his Tradition" at the Edo-Tokyo Museum until Jan. 27, 2008 is a case in point.
It centers around a highly likely, though unconfirmed, meeting of the great artist with Philipp Franz von Siebold (1796-1866), a German who served as physician to the Dutch trading post in Nagasaki from 1823 to 1829, the year he was expelled from the country accused of spying. (Siebold later became known for his books on Japanese flora, fauna, and ethnography.)