Terms and Conditions
The artist, title and date of the work must be listed anywhere the image is reproduced:
Katsushika Hokusai
The great wave off Kanagawa (c. 1830)
colour woodblock
25.7 × 37.7 cm (image and sheet)
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Felton Bequest, 1909
Photo: National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
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The great wave off Kanagawa
(c. 1830)
from the Thirty-six views of Mt Fuji series 1826-33
Medium
colour woodblock
Measurements
25.7 × 37.7 cm (image and sheet)
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Felton Bequest, 1909
Gallery location
Not on display
About this work
The great wave off Kanagawa is one of Hokusai’s finest works and possibly the single most famous image in all oriental art. In addition to the sheer graphic beauty of The great wave there is a compelling force in the contrast between wave and the mountain. The monstrous wave towers above, with its impending crash of water creating a great tension, whereas the graceful lines of a diminutive Mt Fuji sit in the distance. We see tiny fisherman huddled in their sleek crafts ride down one wave, dive straight into the next and endeavour to come out the other side. These swift boats, called oshiokuribune, transported fresh fish and dried sardines in the morning to fish markets off Edo (now Tokyo) Bay, from villages on the Bohso Peninsula.
Artwork Details
Place/s of Execution
Edo (Tokyo), Japan
Inscription
printed in blue ink (in image) (in Japanese characters) u.l.: Fugaku sanju - hokkei / Kanagawa - oki nami-ura / Hokusai aratame litsu hitsu
Accession Number
426-2
Department
Asian Art
This digital record has been made available on NGV Collection Online through the generous support of The Gordon Darling Foundation