In 1639, the country of Japan closed its borders from the rest of the world. For 200 years, foreigners were not welcome, travel outside was punishable by death, and Western culture was forbidden. During this period of great suppression, Japanese art began to blossom as a way for people to express themselves. Japanese art developed and flourished on an unprecedented scale.
About The Piece of Art
The Great Wave Off Kanagawa by Hokusai is a famous piece made around 1830 and is considered one of the most famous and most recognized pieces of Japanese art. It is from a period when the world outside of Japan was becoming more industrialized. Japan had the worry of invasion from the outside.
In the middle of the piece is the great Mount Fuji, representing a peaceful, timeless Japan. This masterpiece depicts a wave of destruction looming over boats in the water. The boats contain scared fishermen facing a turmoils storm with an encompassing wave threatening their safety. The great wave has clawlike features, depicting the ocean as a fearful force.
The ocean was Japan’s protecting force for hundreds of years, but in this masterpiece, the ocean appears to be a destructive wave of uncertainty. It is said to represent the unforeseen future.
The rulers of Japan feared that Christianity and outside world influence was dangerous to the stability of Japan, and outlawed foreign interaction cutting itself off from the rest of the world.
The strict social order was ruled by the emperor, nobles, shoguns. Then ranked samurai, farmers, artisans, and merchants. Interaction between the social classes was forbidden. The merchants which were considered the lowest class started to rise as the economy improved, and this class began being able to afford art, books, education, and even travel within Japan.
This led to the rise of the redlight district and culture known as the “floating world’ called ‘ukiyo.’ There were Kabuki theatres, brothels, puppet theatres, writers, poets, and famous woodblock prints produced mostly of Kabuki actors. The Great Wave Of Kanagawa is said to have been printed as many as 8,000 times. These prints were collected and traded.
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Who is Hokusai?
The artist Hokusai started as a woodblock printer doing pieces of Kabuki actors and rose to notoriety. Then he started doing landscapes and daily life in Japan, which was a breakthrough in the art style of ukiyo-e and his personal career style. His work became very sought after in Japan.
Hokusai had some hardships, including losing his family and suffering a stroke that forced him to relearn how to draw. In his later years, he produced his best and most recognized works. In his 70s, he did a series called “36 views of Mount Fuji.’ This art series featured the great Mount Fuji in perspectives from cities, rivers, lakes, and other various landscapes in Japan. Mount Fuji is viewed as a sacred, cherished, and iconic symbol in Japan. The Great Wave Off Kanagawa became the most celebrated piece in the series and one of the most recognized pieces of Japanese art today.
The location of the view of Mount Fuji is said to be south of Tokyo. The spray of the great wave almost looks like snow descending onto Mount Fuji. The great distance to the shore adds a fear for those on the boats.
Hokusai’s art was the first landscape piece to be mass-produced in Japan, and his style paved the way for a new art style featuring the working class Japan. Since it was mass-produced, the working class could afford it and collect it.
The Artistic Style
The main color in the piece “The Great Wave Off Kanagawa” is Prussian blue, which was a synthetic color that was expensive but then became available at an affordable price for printers in 1829. Several other of the prints in his 36 Views of Mount Fuji series also featured this blue color known for its vividness and lack of fading.
Traditional Japanese art is more fluid than western art at the time, depicting a less physical viewpoint and more panoramic or floating. The style of Hokusai’s landscapes reflects a more focalized viewpoint, mimicking European styles he saw from art that came from Dutch boats that Japan began allowing in for trade.
The original art by Hokusai was most likely the other direction, but when printed, it is laid down and reversed onto the woodblock print, rubbed onto the block with a tool called a barren. The original design is destroyed in the making of the block. Hokusai only worked with the best carvers who held his pieces to a very high print standard. Details would become lost throughout the print run as the carving and ink wore down.
Hokusai lived to be 89, which was very old for his time. He is said to have created art until the day he died. Hokusai’s art was later shared with the world when Japan’s isolation ended in the late 1880s. His work influenced modern art and became the most recognizable representation of Japanese art.
Its Value
The original artwork is held in Sumida Hokusai Museum, Tokyo, Japan. Many museums around the world hold copies of this piece of art, most of which came from private collections of Japanese prints. The record price at auction is 1,590,000 USD, sold at Christie’s New York in 2021.
The Great Wave Off Kanagawa artwork is available as a giclee print from our shop that will be delivered straight to your doorstep. Check out all of our fine art prints to display in your home.
