Works
The Great Wave off Kanagawa
Also Known As The Great Wave (shortened English title); Kanagawa oki nami ura (Japanese title)
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The Great Wave off Kanagawa is a woodblock print by the Japanese artist Hokusai, the first and best known image in his series Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji. It depicts a towering cresting wave threatening three fishing boats with Mount Fuji visible small in the distance, and, as a traditional woodblock print, it survives today as thousands of individually printed impressions rather than as a single unique object.
Facts
Year Created MediumPolychrome woodblock print (ukiyo-e) on paper 1 Cross-Tradition Connections
Created By
In Form
In Movement
Sources
1. Gardner's Art Through the Ages
Fred S. Kleiner (after Helen Gardner), Cengage Learningchapter on Japanese art, section on ukiyo-e and Hokusai
Ukiyo-e (New World Encyclopedia)
New World EncyclopediaIn Movement: Ukiyo-e, Hokusai sectionQuote, In Movement: Ukiyo-e, Hokusai section
The scene is of a great wave about to devour men and boats, with the distant Mount Fuji minimized by the size of the wave.
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