Art Explained | Hokusai | The Great Wave off Kanagawa (1831)

My Account

Mijn Account

Mon Compte

Mein Konto

我的帐户

Connexion

Anmeldung

Art Explained | Hokusai | The Great Wave off Kanagawa (1831)

The Great Wave off Kanagawa is a woodblock print by the Japanese ukiyo-e artist Hokusai (1760–1849), created in late 1831 during the Edo period of Japanese history.

The print depicts three boats moving through a storm-tossed sea, with a large, cresting wave forming a spiral in the centre over the boats and Mount Fuji in the background.

The Great Wave off Kanagawa has been described as "possibly the most reproduced image in the history of all art", as well as being a contender for the "most famous artwork in Japanese history".

This woodblock print has influenced several Western artists and musicians, including Claude Debussy, Vincent van Gogh and Claude Monet. Hokusai's younger colleagues Hiroshige and Utagawa Kuniyoshi were inspired to make their own wave-centric works.

Great Art Explained

James Payne

Art Explained | Hokusai | The Great Wave off Kanagawa (1831)

Join the conversation 🎭

Art Deco | Leonardo da Vinci's Most Mysterious Painting

Vincent van Gogh's Spookiest Paintings (2022)

The Most Disturbing Painting | Saturn Devouring His Son

Leonardo da Vinci’s "Christ" Sold for $450 Million Dollar

Johannes Vermeer | Master of Light (2001)

Pablo Picasso at work | Picasso live painting (1966)

Art Explained | Picasso | Guernica (1937)

Art Explained | René Magritte | The Lovers (1928)

Art Explained | Claude Monet | Water Lilies (1919)

Art | Henri Matisse - Dance (1910)

Art | Edvard Munch - The Scream (1893)

Art Explained | Vincent Van Gogh | The Starry Night (1889)

Vincent van Gogh | The story

Art | Vincent van Gogh - The Starry Night (1888)

John Singer | Portrait of Madame X (1884)

Édouard Manet | The Luncheon on the Grass (1863)

William Frith | Pope Makes Love To Lady Mary Wortley Montagu (1852)

John Martin | Pandemonium (1841)

Jean-Honoré Fragonard | The Swing (1768)

Rembrandt van Rijn | A collection of 546 paintings (1669)

Art Explained | Johannes Vermeer | The Milkmaid (1658)

Art | Rembrandt van Rijn - De Nachtwacht (1642)

Georges de La Tour | The Repentant Magdalene (1640)

Hans Holbein | The Ambassadors (1533)

Mona Lisa (1517)

Art Explained | Leonardo da Vinci | Mona Lisa (1517)

Does ‘The Last Supper’ Really Have a Hidden Meaning?

Hieronymus Bosch | The Garden of Earthly Delights (1500)