You might not know it, but probably the most famous Japanese artist in the world is called Katsushika Hokusai, and he died in 1849. You might be more familiar with his iconic painting of waves, but what else do you know about him?

The Grand Palais has a huge new exhibition about the artist, and it might be your last chance to his work. We explain why…
Strangely enough, French artists in the 19th century played an impotant role in rediscovering the art of Hokusai, often using his work as inspiration.

The exhibition at the Grand Palais shows the painter’s ‘six lives’ of the painter with 500 works of art on show, some of which have never been seen before.

This may be your last chance to Hokusai’s work – many pieces will never leave Japan again after the opening of the Hokusai Museum in  Tokyo in 2016. Some pieces are even so delicate that they will only be on show for part of the exhibition (other will replace them).

To complete your Hokusai experience, there are conferences, concerts, a design contest organised with Uniqlo, and there’s a special site spécial to see who is your inner samurai. Just click here. For example, the Hôtels Paris Rive Gauche is a samurai called Shimonojo Toramori!

An exhaustive catalogue of the exhibition is also available (50€ here at amazon.fr).
The Hokusai exhibition continues at the Grand Palais (here) until 18th January 2015

Opening hours are complicated to say the least. Open Mondays 10am – 8pm, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 10am – 10pm, Saturdays from 9am – 10pm and Sundays from 9am – 8pm. Closed Tuesdays and 25th December

Closed between 21st and 30th November 2014. Open from 9am – 10pm every day from 18th October – 1st November and from 20th December – 3rd January. Closes at 8pm Wednesday 8th October and at 6pm 25th and 31st December

Admission: 13€ / 9€

Official site: here

Facebook: facebook.com/GrandPalais.RMN

Twitter: twitter.com/GrandPalaisRmn