The Great Wave Off Kanagawa Analysis

Katsushika Hokusai was a Japanese artist specializing in ukiyo-e painting and printing. Ukiyo-e is a form of Japanese art which was popular in the 17th through 19th century. In English, ukiyo-e translates to “pictures of the floating world.” It is a wide range of paintings and woodblock prints such as faces, landscapes, flowers, and even erotica. Hokusai’s most famous painting is the Great Wave. The Great Wave off Kanagawa is part of a woodblock print series he did called the Thirty Six Views of Mount Fuji. This series was a turning point for Hokusai’s career, as he was only locally known before them. After the series, he gained much more recognition and was very well known in the country of Japan and some others as well. Most of Hokusai’s famous work was painted after he was 60, about the time he started getting recognition for his work.

The Great Wave off Kanagawa is a woodblock print, like many of Hokusai’s works. The art depicts a large rogue wave toppling over two boats off the coast of the town of Kanagawa. The town of Kanagawa is represented by the mountain, Mount Fuji, in the background. Mount Fuji is often drawn in Hokusai’s works. This is because Hokusai was living in Edo, now Tokyo, where Kanagawa is a small town in. Kanagawa was a town that he either lived in or had much access to. This artwork was made sometime between 1829-1833. It was a part of the famous Thirty Six Views of Mount Fuji. All the thirty six woodblock prints were either directly involving Mount