context: painting > prints > influence on the west

Influence on the West: Henri Riviere

The Tower Under Construction

Henri Riviere in 1888 to 1889 produced a woodcut series that he entitled 'Thirty-Six Views Of The Eiffel Tower' - an unmistakeable reference to Hokusai's 'Thirty-Six Views Of Mount Fuji'. It was eventually published in book form in 1902, instantly becoming a high water mark in overt homage. Its adoption of an engineering feat to replace a mountain is telling on all kinds of levels, and it's obvious that Riviere had genuinely understood Japanese prints at a pretty sophisticated level.