Hokusai with the hot hand

From my visit to the Art Institute in December, this poster is something Hokusai dashed off at a social gathering one afternoon.

This whole exhibition was quite interesting.  We tend to focus on the ukiyo-e prints of this era because of their great success in transmitting their creators' experiments and aesthetics far and wide.  It's relatively easy to put together an exhibition of them because there are so many out there.

But Hokusai and his contemporaries could paint, too.  Although this body of work is less-seen it is no less ambitious and innovative.

(link)