In the Hollow of a Wave off the Coast at Kanagawa

Catalog note / 解説

Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) is perhaps Japan's most famous artist. He is best known for his designs for prints and printed books, although later in life he focussed increasingly on paintings. This print is from Hokusai's ground-breaking series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji, the first to exist exclusively of large-format prints of landscapes. It also made plentiful use of Prussian blue, a pigment which had only recently been introduced to Japan and was both expensive and rare. This print is the most celebrated of the series, and indeed of all Japanese prints. In it, Mount Fuji is pictured through the hollow of a giant wave which threatens to engulf the boats below. The chaos of the scene…