Katsushika Hokusai is without a doubt the most famous Japanese artist known in the Western world since the middle of the nineteenth century. Reflecting the artistic expression of an isolated civilization, the works of Hokusai, one of the first Japanese artists to emerge in Europe, greatly influenced Impressionist and Post-Impressionist painters, such as Vincent van Gogh. Hokusai fascinates with the variety and the significance of his work which spanned almost ninety years.

EDMOND DE GONCOURT (1822-1896) and JULES DE GONCOURT (1830-1870) spent the majority of their lives in Paris. Having attended the finest schools, the Goncourts formed one of the most famous literary partnerships. After an unsuccessful novel and some attempts at drama, they began publishing books on various aspects of art and society in eighteenth-century France. Between 1860 and 1869 the brothers published six novels which they described as "history which might have taken place" and which were as carefully documented as their historical works.