ABOUT THE WORK

Eduardo Chillida's Homenaje a Hokusai is a Corten steel sculpture commissioned by an open-air museum in Japan, where the artist was given complete creative freedom. The sculpture stands as a testament to Chillida's vision of space as a living, breathing entity, intertwining his deep reverence for nature with an homage to Katsushika Hokusai, a revered artistic figure from a bygone Japanese era.

The sculpture itself is characterized by a dynamic interplay of cylindrical and rectangular forms, which evoke a sense of movement and energy. These elements, meticulously crafted through a dramatic forging process, embody a flowing, organic quality. The internal structure of the sculpture creates an impression of interconnectedness and vitality, reminiscent of Hokusai's ability to convey the underlying energies of natural landscapes. Just as Hokusai's work transforms natural forces into bold abstract shapes, Chillida's forms interact with each other and their surroundings, creating a sense of motion and rhythm.

In Homenaje a Hokusai, Chillida engages in an exploration of space, volume, and materiality. This belief is evident in the way the sculpture engages with its environment, inviting viewers to explore it from multiple perspectives. The space within and around the forms is as vital as the forms themselves, with the sculpture’s interplay of solid and void creating a continuous dialogue between material and emptiness.

For Chillida, space is more than a physical dimension; it is a living entity, full of motion and rhythm, a spirit that permeates everything around us. Chillida’s conception of space goes beyond empirically measurable positions: “[Space is] a kind of medium. And we are a part of it. Space is the most vitally alive of anything around us. It’s like a spirit. (…) It has to be felt……it has to find a decision within us (…) it’s full of life, full of motion, full of rhythms” (Quoted from Chillida’s conversation with Friedhelm Mennekes, in: Martina Schleppinghoff and Kurt Desch (eds.). Chillida im geistlichen Raum, Kunststation St. Peter, Cologne 1993, pp.13-15).

The sculpture reflects Chillida’s admiration for Hokusai through its intricate design. Envisioning the sculpture within the mountains of Matsuda, under the watchful gaze of Hokusai’s sacred Mount Fujiyama, Chillida created a monumental structure reminiscent of the mountain itself. A cylindrical strand crosses the composition like a stylized mountain ridge, with two additional strands rising and arching over it before falling steeply to the ground, echoing the cascading water in Hokusai’s Kirifuri Falls. The central knot of folded steel, rooted in the base, appears as if threatened by surrounding waves, embodying the tension between motion and stillness. Chillida remarked that this piece "came very close to something like a wave, something that closes back on itself," capturing the same intertwining folds and waves Hokusai depicted in his works, including his iconic The Great Wave of Kanagawa.

While this sculpture clearly pays tribute to Hokusai, it also incorporates elements of Chillida’s Basque heritage. Some interpret the formation as representing the Tree of Gernika, a symbol of freedom in the Basque Country. The tree’s branches arch back into the ground, symbolizing rebirth – a theme that resonates with the enduring, cyclical nature of both Chillida’s and Hokusai’s work.

In Homenaje a Hokusai, Chillida not only honors the Japanese master but also engages in a profound exploration of space. The interplay between the forms and the surrounding space creates a living, breathing entity, echoing Chillida's belief that space is full of motion and spirit. Through this sculpture, Chillida brings his own Basque heritage into conversation with Hokusai’s Japanese influences, bridging their shared comprehension of nature’s forces and the space that encompasses them.

Interested in learning more? Click here to read Professor Christa Lichtenstern’s essay on Eduardo Chillida’s Homenaje a Hokusai.