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)"

About this artwork

Katsushika Hokusai’s much celebrated series, Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku sanjûrokkei), was begun in 1830, when the artist was 70 years old. This tour-de-force series established the popularity of landscape prints, which continues to this day. Perhaps most striking about the series is Hokusai’s copious use of the newly affordable Berlin blue pigment, featured in many of the compositions in the color for the sky and water. Mount Fuji is the protagonist in each scene, viewed from afar or...

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 sublime power over human fragility. Printed in the oban format (25.4 × 37.6 cm), this work exemplifies the intricate artistry of woodblock printing. Multiple carved wooden blocks were inked in vibrant blues, whites, and reds—Prussian blue pigment newly imported to Japan—then precisely overlaid to achieve Hokusai's dynamic composition and vivid depth. Affordable yet exquisitely detailed, these prints brought epic vistas to everyday viewers, blending realism with expressive curves that convey motion and tension. Housed in the Art Institute of Chicago's Arts of Asia department, *The Great Wave* endures as a cultural emblem of Japan's artistic ingenuity, influencing global modern art from Impressionism to contemporary design. Its timeless portrayal of peril and endurance invites us to ponder humanity's place in the vast natural world.

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...