The Great Wave off Kanagawa by Katsushika Hokusai

Just so captivating.

I went to the V&A museum especially to see this woodblock print (rest can be seen in my fuller review). 

It is an alluring and beautiful painting - and the wave is thrilling and fearsome.

The fishermen are rowing *into* the waves, not escaping it.

It is really gorgeous. And no wonder it is one of the most enduring and striking works of Japanese art in the world. The Great Wave off Kanagawa was published around 1830 as the first in the series “36 Views of Mount Fuji”. 

I think it speaks to our ability to overcome obstacles — even those beyond our control. It is an interpretation of resilience.

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I recently watched a BBC documentary on this painting.

The Great Wave of Kanagawa was published after the period of time during which Japan was closed off to trade, which made their art more appealing and exotic to Europeans. It was also published during the Enlightenment, when Western European countries were pursuing discovery for the sake of furthering knowledge. 

What is fascinating is that Hokusai became inspired by Dutch paintings and art that arrived in Japan (notwithstanding its isolation). He imbued “European techniques” into the traditional Japanese woodblock prints. Then, later, the Impressionists gets inspiration from Japanese and Hokusai’s prints ... and then imbue “Japanese techniques” into the European paintings … 

The ukiyo-e style was completely new to Europeans. Elements of its composition included the use of so much negative space in the background, the lack of any clear focal point as well as perspective and the emphasis on ephemerality. In Hokusai’s wave, one gets the distinct feeling of the fugacious changing nature of life. Similarly, Monet’s Impressionist canvasses evoke the feeling of him laying down hurried brush strokes to capture a fleeting moment. There was also lack of the traditional high degree of illusionism in art. All these contributed so much to Impressionism.

Renaissance to a modern Impressionist style.

Hokusai’s wave is like a conversation across time in which people share their life views.