Hokusai: The Great Picture Book of Everything ★★★★★ The British Museum | Sep 30, 2021 - Jan 30, 2022


In Hokusai: The Great Picture Book of Everything we see over 100 exquisite little drawings by Japan's most famous artist, Katsushika Hokusai. These newly rediscovered works haven't been on public display before and date mainly from the 1820s. Hokusai's intention was to provide a visual encyclopedia of every form of life, and each composition, from historical figures to exotic animals and mythical creatures, is depicted in stunning detail. He had boundless invention. Many pieces have delightful wit including a naughty ape on a camel's back or a grinning, long-snouted baku. Others are more serious in tone, but all demonstrate Hokusai's sensational ability, even into his seventies, to draw with minute accuracy and without the aid of glasses. These drawings were intended to have been destroyed as they were designed to be pasted onto board in readiness for printing and then only seen in book form. Several of these books are also on show; they are sensational. We are also offered an opportunity to compare two prints of his most famous work, "The Great Wave," with tiny variations being pointed out. Most of the drawings are pen with black ink, but when Hokusai does use colour it is limited and amazingly subtle. Each piece is only the size of a postcard, and we were lucky enough to see them with no crowds milling about. If the exhibition is busy, it may be more of a challenge to take the time to look closely, but your efforts and patience will be well rewarded. These sensational drawings really do provide a great picture book of everything.

Rated: ★★★★★

Reviewed by D.S.J.
Image: Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849), 'Cats and hibiscus' (The Great Picture Book of Everything). Photo © The Trustees of the British Museum.

Want to save on tickets? See our Tips page.

When, Where, Getting there:

Map & Location: Great Russell St, London WC1B 3DG, UK

Most Popular

The Divine Mrs S ★★★ Hampstead Theatre | Mar 22 - Apr 27, 2024

Image
Sarah Siddons was the most influential actress of her day. She was famed for her portrayal of Lady Macbeth and has been credited with the creation of the modern notion of celebrity. Borrowing an epithet most often associated with Sarah Bernhardt, playwright April De Angelis contrasts how Mrs Siddons is celebrated on stage but is confined by both her gender and her marital status when off. She is patronised by her actor/manager brother and her money is taken by her estranged and philandering husband. In the theatre, Siddons may experience power over her audience, but in real life she is subject to the patriarchal hierarchy of her time. This point is made obviously and repeatedly throughout the play which presents the great tragedienne's life in an almost farcical style. While the show exists in a historical context it is not bound, linguistically or factually, by that reality. The plot and characters recall a Regency comedy. They are representations of types, bearing little relation...
Full Details »

ABBA Voyage ★★★★★ ABBA Arena, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park | Extended Run

Image
When great music from the past meets mind boggling technology from the future, the result is ABBA Voyage . This is a concert like no other. In a purpose built arena designed specifically for the show, massive high resolution LED screens, advanced lighting, and surround sound are used to create a fully immersive ABBA concert experience. Although the group’s last appearance in London was at Wembley Arena in 1979, they return technologically in this extraordinary production. These are not holograms or AI generated performances. This is a meticulously animated concert based on real performances by the band themselves. To achieve this effect, the group came together and re-performed their music using motion capture technology. They partnered with top visual effects experts to digitally recreate their younger selves. While the show includes a live band and backup singers, the Agnetha, Björn, Benny, and Anni-Frid seen on stage appear every bit as real as their original counterparts. One quick...
Full Details »

Summer Exhibition 2026 ★★★★ Royal Academy of Arts | Jun 16 - Aug 23, 2026

Image
The theme of the 258th Summer Exhibition, “Interconnectedness,” makes tracing links between the works on display both a fascinating and at times overwhelming experience. While this year’s works on view appear to contain less overt political commentary and fewer instances of humour than is often typical of such events, both are still present in striking moments. Tim Shaw’s powerful portrayal of Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin in Pin It On Them (Associated Artwork From the Installation: Shut It Piggy) (555) can be juxtaposed with the playful absurdity of Joey Rutherford’s Pickle With a Pearl Earring (1110) , reminding viewers of the range of tones running through the exhibition. Alongside these, there are the usual charming animal representations, including our favourite, the highly realistic cat in Thus Regard Palmerston (793) , as well as the standard attempts to shock and provoke, such as Tracey Emin’s There Is An End To Everything (674) . The collection continues to move between cur...
Full Details »

St. Martin in-the-fields: Lunchtime Concerts ★★★★ FREE

Image
Maybe the best musical value in London. The lunchtime concerts at St. Martin's are always a wonderful way to escape the hustle and bustle that is London and the sensory overload that is Trafalgar Square. This is a beautiful setting with great acoustics, and a church pew hard enough to make sure you don't nod off. Reviewed by J.C.  Our score:    ☆☆☆☆  WHEN, WHERE, GETTING THERE: Mon & Fri: 1 pm - 1:45 pm ( occasionally Tues & Thurs)  St. Martin in-the-fields, Trafalgar Square Nearest tube: Charing Cross https://www.stmartin-in-the-fields.org/whats-on
Full Details »

The Misanthrope ★★★ National Theatre | Jun 16 - Aug 1, 2026

Image
Martin Crimp’s reimagining of The Misanthrope relocates Molière’s classic into a contemporary world of artists and intellectuals, centring on Alice, a feminist novelist who rails against what she sees as the hypocrisy of modern society. From the outset, Crimp signals his ambition to bridge two worlds: the formal, structured society of Molière’s Louis XIV court and the looser, more performative social codes of the present day. Yet this balancing act proves uneasy. The production never fully settles into either register. It is neither convincingly contemporary nor persuasively classical, instead hovering in an uncertain space where stylisation overwhelms dramatic credibility. The play opens with a lengthy exchange between Alice and her playwright friend John, in which her ideas are set out in carefully constructed speeches that feel less like dialogue than set pieces. Even among a cast of writers, actors and musicians, the conversations often do not seem natural, and the interactions ne...
Full Details »

Hepworth in Colour ★★★★ The Courtauld Gallery | Jun 12 - Sep 6, 2026

Image
This exhibition is a thoughtful examination of an aspect of Barbara Hepworth's work that has long been under-appreciated. Bringing together twenty of Hepworth's abstract sculptures and thirty drawings, it focuses on her innovative use of colour to transform the internal spaces of her sculptures into expressive elements in their own right. As war broke out, Hepworth moved with her husband, Ben Nicholson, to Cornwall. With her preferred materials in short supply, she increasingly turned to plaster, using paint to animate and define the interior surfaces of her sculptures. Richly coloured interiors are often accentuated by strings of contrasting shades, creating a dynamic interplay between surface, space and line. Thirteen of the sixteen painted sculptures Hepworth created during the 1940s are displayed here, although the exhibition also extends into works produced during the 1950s and 1960s. The two-gallery presentation on Floor 3 is complemented by photographs of Hepworth and Ni...
Full Details »

−320°F ★★★★ Sadler's Wells Theatre | July 2 - 11, 2026

Image
For anyone captivated by Hideki Noda's A Night at the Kabuki at Sadler's Wells in 2022, this is a joyous return. For everyone else, it will probably be unlike anything they have seen before. Noda gleefully takes Western myths and cultural touchstones, then hurls them into a wildly inventive Japanese theatrical landscape that leaves audiences laughing, pondering and frequently bewildered. The result is a banquet of spectacle, comedy and big ideas. Like any all-you-can-eat buffet, it is both irresistible and overwhelming. There is so much happening that following the plot becomes almost impossible. It stretches across the modern, medieval and ancient worlds, with a detour through the heavens for good measure. The action begins with God complaining to the angels that humanity has built the Tower of Babel in an attempt to reach him. From there, the play hurtles through the Faust legend and the tale of the Pied Piper of Hamelin, while weaving in a corporate power struggle that appe...
Full Details »

To Kill a Mockingbird ★★★★★ Wyndham’s Theatre | Jun 25 - Sep 12, 2026

Image
Many readers first encountered To Kill a Mockingbird in the classroom, where Harper Lee's novel has long been a staple of English literature courses. Its exploration of racism, morality and the loss of childhood innocence has become familiar territory for generations of students. The story also lives on through Robert Mulligan's celebrated 1962 film adaptation, in which Gregory Peck delivered his Academy Award-winning performance as Atticus Finch. His portrayal of the principled lawyer and widowed father who defends a Black man falsely accused of raping a white woman in 1930s Alabama remains one of cinema's defining performances. That legacy presents a formidable challenge for Aaron Sorkin's stage adaptation, as well as for Richard Coyle in the iconic role of Atticus. Happily, both rise to the occasion. Sorkin's adaptation remains faithful to the moral force of Lee's novel while giving the drama a powerful sense of urgency and theatrical momentum. Rather than f...
Full Details »

Sinatra The Musical ★★★★ Aldwych Theatre | Until April 10, 2027

Image
Sinatra The Musical offers a sleek, visually striking journey through the life and legend of Frank Sinatra, though it often seems more like a carefully curated scrapbook than a fully rounded portrait of its subject. This is very much a polished, expurgated version of Sinatra's life, one that prefers glamour and momentum over the more troubling or complex edges of Sinatra’s life. There are references to his mafia connections while his philandering, although a major part of the story, somehow feels sanitised. The show precedes the infamous Rat Pack years and centres on the teenage heartthrob who lost his fame and then made a comeback with the film From Here to Eternity . This is a production, like Sinatra himself, with an abundance of style. The visuals are consistently impressive, moving with cinematic fluidity between recording studios, Hollywood sets and various homes. The sheen of mid-century show business is captured with real flair, creating a world that is as seductive as it ...
Full Details »

Shear Madness ★★★★ The Mill at Sonning | Jun 25 - Aug 15, 2026

Image
Shear Madness is both a play and a theatrical phenomenon. Based on a 1963 German experimental drama, Bruce Jordan and Marilyn Abrams transformed it into a comedy set in a hair salon. Their adaptation premiered in a small village in upstate New York in 1976 before moving to Boston in 1980, where the show enjoyed an extraordinary forty-year run, finally closing in 2023. Since then, it has been translated into numerous languages and produced around the world, confirming its status as a cut above the average whodunit. The action takes place in a bustling hair salon where two stylists and four customers learn that the upstairs neighbour, a former concert pianist, has suffered the unkindest cut of all. When the police arrive, the audience is enlisted to comb through the evidence, cut through the misdirection, and tie up the loose ends. The first act is packed with sharp one-liners and an infectious energy that keeps events clipping along at a brisk pace. The cast is excellent, with standout...
Full Details »

The City Life Magazine | Reviews & Ratings