Ōi

A trailblazing female ukiyo-e artist in Edo-period Japan who defied gender norms.

Ōi (circa 1800–1866), daughter of legendary artist Katsushika Hokusai, carved her own path in Japan's male-dominated art world through exceptional technical mastery and innovative compositions. Her masterpiece Mothers Teaching Practical Skills to Daughters revolutionized domestic scenes by depicting women as active knowledge-bearers rather than passive subjects.

While assisting her father's Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji series, Ōi developed a unique style blending Western perspective with traditional brushwork. Her 1836 Courtesan in Western-style Room features unprecedented use of vanishing point techniques, predating Japan's official opening to Western art influences by two decades.

Recent scholarship reveals Ōi likely created 40% of works attributed to Hokusai's late period. The 2021 discovery of her seal on Whaling off Goto Islands at The Met has sparked major reappraisals of Edo-era art history.