Under the Wave off Kanagawa (Kanagawa oki nami ura), or The Great Wave, from the series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku sanjūrokkei)

Under the Wave off Kanagawa (Kanagawa oki nami ura), or The Great Wave, from the series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku sanjūrokkei)

Katsushika Hokusai

Colors in this work

Details

Dimensions
10 x 15 in. (25.4 x 38.1 cm)
Origin
Japan
Department
Asian Art
Holding institution
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
License
CC0-1.0
Credit
The Howard Mansfield Collection, Purchase, Rogers Fund, 1936

Art Genome Taxonomy

11 tags

Subject Matter

  • The Metropolitan Museum of Art lists mountains and waves among the subjects, and the image clearly presents Mount Fuji within an expansive seascape.

  • Nautical Both · 98%

    Three narrow boats with visible occupants are shown navigating the sea; the museum metadata identifies boats as a subject.

  • Text Visual · 97%

    Vertical Japanese inscriptions and a bordered cartouche are visibly present in the upper-left area of the print.

Visual Qualities

  • Curvilinear Forms Visual · 99%

    The composition is dominated by sweeping arcs, curling wave crests, hooked foam shapes, and rounded bands of water.

  • Dynamism Visual · 98%

    The rising wave, diagonal boats, directional bands of water, and sharply contrasting scales produce a strong sense of motion.

  • Highly Detailed Visual · 95%

    Fine contour lines, repeated foam details, patterned water surfaces, and carefully delineated boats make the image visually detailed.

  • Patterns Visual · 94%

    Repeated hooked foam motifs and recurring wave contours form a conspicuous decorative pattern across the sea.

Medium and Techniques

  • Woodcut and Linocut Metadata · 99%

    The museum identifies the object as a woodblock print made with ink and color on paper.

  • Prints Metadata · 99%

    The catalog classification includes Prints.

Time Periods

  • 19th Century Art Metadata · 99%

    The work is dated circa 1830–32, placing it in nineteenth-century art.

Geographic Regions

  • Japanese Art Metadata · 99%

    The catalog gives Japan as the place of origin.

Source & rights

Katsushika Hokusai. Under the Wave off Kanagawa (Kanagawa oki nami ura), or The Great Wave, from the series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku sanjūrokkei). The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

High-resolution sources