
The Art Institute of Chicago
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)"
Description
Katsushika Hokusai’s much celebrated series, Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku sanjûrokkei), was begun in 1830, when the artist was 70 years old. This tour-de-force series established the popularity of landscape prints, which continues to this day. Perhaps most striking about the series is Hokusai’s copious use of the newly affordable Berlin blue pigment, featured in many of the compositions in the color for the sky and water. Mount Fuji is the protagonist in each scene, viewed from afar or up close, during various weather conditions and seasons, and from all directions.
The most famous image from the set is the "Great Wave" (Kanagawa oki nami ura), in which a diminutive Mount Fuji can be seen in the distance under the crest of a giant wave. The three impressions of Hokusai’s Great Wave in the Art Institute are all later impressions than the first state of the design.
Provenance
Yamanaka & Company, New York; sold to Clarence Buckingham (1854–1913), Chicago, Dec. 1905; by descent to his sisters Lucy Maud Buckingham (1870–1920) and Kate Sturges Buckingham (1858–1937), Chicago, 1913; given to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1925.
Dimensions
25.4 × 37.6 cm (10 × 14 3/4 in.)
Movement / Period
Accession No
24645
Official Citations
Curatorial Affinity Stream
Continuing the Universe of Katsushika Hokusai 葛飾 北斎 Japanese, 1760-1849
Japanese (culture or style) • Japan • Harmonious Works & Contemporaries
Continuous Discovery