Kanagawa oki namiura

About this artwork

height 254 mm x width 375 mm

Art Historical Context

Katsushika Hokusai's *Kanagawa-oki nami ura* (Under the Wave off Kanagawa), between 1829 and 1833, is the iconic masterpiece from his groundbreaking series *Thirty-six Views Mount Fuji*. This nishiki-e—a vibrant, full-color woodblock print—captures towering wave curling dramatically over three fishing boats, with the distant of Mount Fuji providing a counterpoint. Measuring just 254 mm high by 375 mm wide, its compact size belies its monumental impact, making it accessible to everyday Edo-period viewers through affordable prints. Hokusai, a virtuoso of the ukiyo-e ("pictures of the floating w...

About the Artist

Katsushika Hokusai · 1760–1849

Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) stands as one of history's most influential artists, a Japanese master who revolutionized the ukiyo-e woodblock print tradition and profoundly shaped Western art. Born in the Katsushika district of Edo (modern-day Tokyo) to an artisan family, Hokusai lived through nearly nine decades of extraordinary creative evolution, adopting over thirty different artistic names t...