Under the Wave off Kanagawa
after Katsushika Hokusai, Japanese, 1760 - 1849
early 20th century
Woodblock print (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper
Block: 9 1/2 × 14 3/4 in. (24.2 × 37.5 cm)
Sheet: 9 7/8 × 15 1/8 in. (25.1 × 38.4 cm)
Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth: Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College
2016.47.4
Portfolio / Series Title
From the Series Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji
Geography
Place Made: Japan, East Asia, Asia
Period
20th century
Object Name
Research Area
Not on view
Label
Widely known as “The Great Wave,” this print portrays a cresting wave in Kanagawa with three vessels tilting precariously in the stormy sea. The terrifying and majestic power of the ocean is the central theme of this image, Hokusai took great care in capturing the shape and direction of the wave so that it feels like a living creature with its own agency and force. The sailors on these fish-delivery boats bend their bodies close to the deck to avoid being swept away by the sea, almost as though they were bowing to the wave, begging for their lives.
Title
富嶽三十六景 神奈川沖浪裏
Fugaku sanjūrokkei Kanagawa oki nami ura
Artist signature
北斎改為一筆
[Hokusai aratame Iitsu hitsu]
Brushed [by] Hokusai, now Iitsu [Hokusai changed his name to Iitsu in 1820]
Publisher seal
ワタナベ
Watanabe
From the 2024 exhibition Attitude of Coexistence: Non-Humans in East Asian Art, curated by Haely Chang, Jane and Raphael Bernstein Associate Curator of East Asian Art
Course History
Center for Cartoon Studies, Dan Nott, Fall 2021
ARTH 62.30/ASCL 62.12, Japanese Prints, Allen Hockley, Spring 2022
Art History 62.30, Asian Societies, Cultures, and Languages 62.12, Japanese Prints Allen Hockley, Spring 2023
Exhibition History
Attitude of Coexistence: Non-humans in East Asian Art, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, March 5-June 29, 2025.
Provenance
Source unknown; catalogued, 2016.
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