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Katsushika Hokusai Japanese
Not on view
The breathtaking composition of this woodblock print, said to have inspired Debussy’s La Mer (The Sea) and Rilke’s Der Berg (The Mountain), ensures its reputation as an icon of world art. Hokusai cleverly played with perspective to make Japan’s grandest mountain appear as a small triangular mound within the hollow of the cresting wave. The artist became famous for his landscapes created using a palette of indigo and imported Prussian blue.
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「富嶽三十六景 神奈川沖浪裏」
Title: Under the Wave off Kanagawa (Kanagawa oki nami ura), also known as The Great Wave, from the series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku sanjūrokkei)
Artist: Katsushika Hokusai (Japanese, Tokyo (Edo) 1760–1849 Tokyo (Edo))
Period: Edo period (1615–1868)
Date: ca. 1830–32
Culture: Japan
Medium: Woodblock print; ink and color on paper
Dimensions: 10 1/8 x 14 15/16 in. (25.7 x 37.9 cm)
Classification: Prints
Credit Line: H. O. Havemeyer Collection, Bequest of Mrs. H. O. Havemeyer, 1929
Accession Number: JP1847
Learn more about this artwork
Making Waves: What Happens When We Zoom in on Art?
Waves: they’re not just in the ocean. We need waves of light to look at art at The Met. But what if we want to take a closer look? Then, we use an electron microscope, a cool tool that uses energy waves to zoom in on art like never before.
Own a Van Gogh in *Animal Crossing*, with The Met's New Share Tool
Here's how to download Met artworks into the game.
Hokusai and Debussy's Evocations of the Sea
Website Editor Michael Cirigliano II discusses the stylistic parallels between Katsushika Hokusai's "Great Wave" and Claude Debussy's La Mer.
The Great Wave: Anatomy of an Icon
Scientists at The Met use modern technology to analyze the color and double woodblock printing process used to print Hokusai’s The Great Wave.
Timeline of Art History
Essay
Art of the Edo Period (1615-1868)
Essay
Art of the Pleasure Quarters and the Ukiyo-e Style
Essay
Woodblock Prints in the Ukiyo-e Style
Chronology
Japan, 1800-1900 A.D.
Museum Publications
Splendid Legacy: The Havemeyer Collection
Prints and People: A Social History of Printed Pictures
Making The Met, 1870–2020
Art = Discovering Infinite Connections in Art History
"Hokusai"
Related Artworks
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- By Katsushika Hokusai
- Asian Art
- Ink
- Paper
- Printing blocks
- Prints
- Relief prints
- Wood blocks
- Woodcuts
- From Asia
- From Japan
- From A.D. 1800–1900
Under the Wave off Kanagawa (Kanagawa oki nami ura), also known as The Great Wave, from the series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku sanjūrokkei)
Katsushika Hokusai (Japanese, Tokyo (Edo) 1760–1849 Tokyo (Edo))
ca. 1830–32
Yahagi Bridge at Okazaki on the Tōkaidō (Tōkaidō Okazaki Yahagi no hashi), from the series Remarkable Views of Bridges in Various Provinces (Shokoku meikyō kiran)
Katsushika Hokusai (Japanese, Tokyo (Edo) 1760–1849 Tokyo (Edo))
ca. 1834
The Suspension Bridge on the Border of Hida and Etchū Provinces (Hietsu no sakai tsuribashi), from the series Remarkable Views of Bridges in Various Provinces (Shokoku meikyō kiran)
Katsushika Hokusai (Japanese, Tokyo (Edo) 1760–1849 Tokyo (Edo))
ca. 1830
Viewing the Sunset over Ryōgoku Bridge from the Onmayagashi Embankment (Onmayagashi yori Ryōgokubashi sekiyō o miru), from the series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku sanjūrokkei)
Katsushika Hokusai (Japanese, Tokyo (Edo) 1760–1849 Tokyo (Edo))
ca. 1830–32
Cherry Blossoms at Yoshino (Yoshino), from the series Snow, Moon, and Flowers (Setsugekka)
Katsushika Hokusai (Japanese, Tokyo (Edo) 1760–1849 Tokyo (Edo))
ca. 1833
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Asian Art at The Met
The Met's collection of Asian art—more than 35,000 objects, ranging in date from the third millennium B.C. to the twenty-first century—is one of the largest and most comprehensive in the world.
