©

 

Height: 25.8 cm
Width: 37.9 cm

 

 

Acquired with the assistance of The Art Fund

Asia JA 2008,3008.1

Asia

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Views of Mount Fuji

Katsushika Hokusai, 'Under the Wave, off Kanagawa' (Kanagawa oki nami-ura) ['The Great Wave##QUO

From the series 'Thirty-six views of Mount Fuji' (Fugaku sanjūrokkei)

This is perhaps the single most famous of Hokusai's woodblock prints - perhaps of all Japanese prints.

Fishermen cower in three skiffs, almost praying in supplication to the 'Great Wave' about to crash down on them. The curves of the boats and the foaming waves echo the graceful snow-clad slopes of Mt Fuji. The mountain lies low in the hollow of the wave, unperturbed by the impending catastrophe.

Though highly valued today, several thousand impressions were taken from the cherry-wood printing blocks of this series, literally as many as the publisher could sell.