As Hosukai delicately draws his image and carves the keyblock with sharp precision, every subtle element of his composition would go on to tell stories of its own. In 1831, he created Japan’s most iconic woodblock print, The Great Wave off Kanagawa.
Whether you look at the flawless contrast made from a striking Prussian blue or even the Western-influenced graphical perspective that sparks compelling action, every detail that defines The Great Wave captivates the viewer’s mind, evoking feelings of awe, thrill, bliss, and even terror.
Being one of the most famous and reproduced Japanese artworks in history, it influenced creative titans like Vincent Van Goh, Claude Monet, Utagawa Hiroshige, and countless Impressionist painters across Europe.
In one of his letters to his brother Theo, Vincent van Goh stated:
“When Paul Mantz saw Delacroix’s violent and exalted sketch, Christ’s boat, at the exhibition that we saw in the Champs-Elysées, he turned away from it and cried out in his article, ‘I did not know that one could be so terrifying with blue and green.’ Hokusai makes you cry out the same thing — but in his case with his lines, his drawing, since in your letter you say to yourself: these waves are claws, the boat is caught in them, you can feel it.”
Who is Hokusai, the Man Behind The Great Wave off Kanagawa?
At 6, Hokusai had already garnered a magnetic passion for art. Since then, he tirelessly refined his talents in painting and even began mastering ukiyo-e, a renowned style of Japanese woodblock prints and paintings.
Hokusai’s many artworks were pivotal in transforming ukiyo-e, shifting from a courtesan and actor-centered portraiture style into a broader style of art that emphasized landscapes, flora, and fauna.
Among his impressive works, the pinnacle of his artistry shines through his iconic Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji series. His landscape prints in the Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji, especially The Great Wave off Kanagawa and Fine Wind, Clear Morning, showcased his revolutionary talent in creating stunning art.
The works that Hokusai crafted in Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji were monumental landmarks in his journey toward his greatest aspiration, of which he stated years before his death, “At ninety I shall even further penetrate their secret meaning, and by one hundred I shall perhaps truly have reached the level of the marvelous and divine. When I am one hundred and ten, each dot, each line will possess a life of its own.”
What Makes The Great Wave Such a Masterpiece?