Under the Wave off Kanagawa (Kanagawa oki nami ura), also known as The Great Wave, from the series "Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku sanjurokkei)"
1830/33
Medium
Color woodblock print; oban
Dimensions
25.4 × 37.6 cm (10 × 14 3/4 in.)
Classification
woodblock print
Department
Arts of Asia
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
89503
Art Historical Context
Katsushika Hokusai's *Under the Wave off Kanagawa*, popularly known as *The Great Wave*, is the iconic first print in his groundbreaking series *Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji* (Fugaku sanjurokkei), created around 1830–33. This color woodblock print captures a dramatic seascape off Japan's Kanagawa coast, where a towering wave looms over fragile fishing boats, with the serene peak of Mount Fuji rising steadfastly in the background. Hokusai, a master of the ukiyo-e ("pictures of the floating world") tradition, revolutionized landscape art during Japan's Edo period by emphasizing nature's sublim...
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...