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The Great Wave off Kanagawa

Also Known As The Great Wave (shortened English title); Kanagawa oki nami ura (Japanese title)
Prints and Drawings
The Great Wave off Kanagawa

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
1831 1
Medium
Polychrome woodblock print (ukiyo-e) on paper 1
Classification
Genre
Printmaking 1
Medium
Medium (category)
Woodblock print 2
Connections

Associated With

Woodcut, Artistic Techniques

The Great Wave off Kanagawa is a defining ukiyo-e woodcut print.

Created By

Hokusai, Artists
Source Gardner's Art Through the AgesFred S. Kleiner (after Helen Gardner)

In Form

Printmaking, Art Forms
Source Gardner's Art Through the AgesFred S. Kleiner (after Helen Gardner)

In Genre

Printmaking, Art Forms

In Movement

Ukiyo-e, Movements
Source Ukiyo-e (New World Encyclopedia)
Sources
1. Gardner's Art Through the Ages
Fred S. Kleiner (after Helen Gardner), Cengage Learning
  • chapter on Japanese art, section on ukiyo-e and Hokusai
  • Genre reference
    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.
2. The Great Wave off Kanagawa (Wikipedia)
Infobox: type
Quote, Infobox: type
Ukiyo-e (woodblock print)
View the Source
Ukiyo-e (New World Encyclopedia)
New World EncyclopediaIn Movement: Ukiyo-e, Hokusai section
Quote, 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.
View the Source

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