The story of The Great Wave Off Kanagawa

The Great Wave off Kanagawa by Katsushika Hokusai (Japanese, 1760–1849) is assumed by many to be a portrayal of a Tsunami off the coast of Japan.  In reality it's not - it's another type of wave.  However this does not stop this image having a fascinating story which is reviewed in this post and the documentary programme below.

The Great Wave off Kanagawa by Hokusai
Polychrome woodblock print; ink and color on paper 25.7 cm × 37.8 cm (10.1 in × 14.9 in)

It was the first print in Hokusai's portfolio series of prints Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji - which was very much designed, produced and published as something tourists and religious buyers might want to buy.  The series shows everyday activities with human interest and a focus on the world of work while some are abstracted.

The 36 Views were also based on a vibrant new colour - Prussian Blue!

The construction of the design is based on geometry and arrangements of circles and triangles.  There is also a sense of space collapsing which is no doubt enhanced by his study of perspective.

On YouTube there are five videos of a documentary programme about The Great Wave. It explains

• how it came about (Hokusai's grandson had gambled away all his money and he was destitute), 
• what sort of wave it is (it's not a tsunami but rather a very large cascading pyramidal wave - which is a real wave)
• explains the context for this particular woodcut print in terms of the fashion for the art of theoating world
• identifies that Hokusai studied Dutch prints and that the design is influenced by European art and his knowledge of perspective
• how he studied waves over 30 years prior to creating this particular image
• explains how the print was produced
• discusses the translation of the title
• unpicks who the boatmen are and speculates that they may have been trying to get the first bunito tuna of the season to market - but for the fact they are facing the wrong way!  But then comments that since th Japanese eye reads from right to left the wave would be splashing into the viewer's face.
• It also identifies that the secondary wave in the foreground is exactly the same outline as Mount Fuji - a tremendously important iconic image in Japanese art.
• how it a print that we know was owned by Monet and Van Gogh - but how it went in and out of fashion.

There's a notion that the boatmen are not fighting the wave but rather going with the flow of life.  Hokusai also apparently had an obsession with long life and death - and Hokusai was nearing the end of his life when he produced it.  Possibly it represented the notion that disaster is always just around the corner - no matter what guise it comes in.

• The Great Wave (Japanese Art Documentary) 2/5
• The Great Wave (Japanese Art Documentary) 3/5
• The Great Wave (Japanese Art Documentary) 4/5
• The Great Wave (Japanese Art Documentary) 5/5

For all those. like me, who have read books about Hokusai by Matthi Forrer, you get to see and hear from him in this documentary

Note:  Kanagawa is part of a the southern Kantō region of Honshū, Japan and surrounds Tokyo Bay.

Links to more information about Japanese Art:

• Hokusai - Resources for Art Lovers
• Hiroshige - Resources for Art Lovers
• Japanese Art and Artists - Resources for Art Lovers

Winter Landscape: Kinryusan Temple at Asakusa by Ando Hiroshige

Hiroshige was an artist of snow and rain 

This, for me, is one of the "all time great" winter landscapes of an urban area under snow. It was created by the famous Japanese ukiyo-e artist Ando Hiroshige (1797-1858) as part of the series One Hundred Famous Views of Edo which was produced between 1856-8.  This one is Image #99.

Kinryusan Temple at Asakusa by Ando Hiroshige (Japanese, 1797–1858)

From the series One Hundred Famous Views of Edo (JP2519)
Oban format, woodblock print; ink and color on paper;
H. 14 1/16 in. (35.7 cm), W. 9 1/2 in. (24.1 cm)

In Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. (October 2006)

Here, a large lantern and a temple gate are so closely viewed that motifs are cropped, while the use of one-point perspective, a Western technique, to depict the pathway to the main hall of Kinryusan temple contrasts the powerful details of the foreground with the inexorability of the temple hall in the distance.

Source: Ando Hiroshige: Kinryusan Temple at Asakusa: From the series One Hundred Famous Views of Edo (JP2519) | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Note also that:

• all the people are turned away from the artist; many are further obscured by umbrellas
• the leaden sky is captured perfectly - but the colour is also 'reflected' at the base of the painting
• the red vertical of the doorway is echoed by the vertical banner and the tiered tower in the rear of the image
• the terrific contrast between the red and the green of the buildings and the white and blue/grey of the natural elements - the snow and the sky - making this a very "look at me" image.

You can read more about the landscapes of Hiroshige and the One Hundred Views of Edo in my information site Hiroshige - Resources for Art Lovers

You can see more snow scenes by Hiroshige on John Stewart's excellent website about The Woodblock Prints of Ando Hiroshige

• Twelve Snows Scenes of the Eastern Capital
  
• Eight Snow Scenes of the Eastern Metropolis