The Great Wave off Kanagawa (Kanagawa oki nami ura)

Catalog note / 解説

Together with Thunderstorm Beneath the Summit (cat.8) and Mount Fuji at Dawn (also known as Red Fuji, cat. 7), this print, better known by its short title, Great Wave, is one of the three best-loved compositions in Hokusai’s Fuji series. Nature’s enormous power is vividly portrayed in the great wave and ingenious composition as both profoundly beautiful and chillingly threatening. It is no wonder that the Japanese as well as people everywhere recognize this print as a world-class masterpiece. The print depicts three boats tossed by the wind and gigantic, towering waves. The boats somehow stay afloat, their crew crouching in the scuppers. Snow falls against the gray sky and over the blue wav…