ID: 700008755 Page link: http://vocab.getty.edu/page/cona/700008755	Record Type: Movable Work
Images: 1

The Great Wave (color woodcut; Artist: Katsushika Hokusai; Publisher: Nishimuraya Yohachi, ...; 1831, probably late 1831; British Museum (London, Greater London, England, United King...; 2008,3008.1.JA)

Note: Colour woodblock oban print. 'The Great Wave'; fishermen crouching in three skiffs, with towering wave about to crash down on them, Mt Fuji seen low in hollow of wave. Inscribed and signed. Several thousand impressions were taken of the design from the cherry-wood printing blocks, literally as many as the publisher could sell. This is a fine early impression, still with sharp outlines, which formerly belonged to the French collector René Druart (1888-1961). This is perhaps the single most famous of Hokusai's woodblock prints - perhaps of all Japanese prints. It belongs to the series 'Thirty-six views of Mount Fuji' (Fugaku sanjūrokkei). The graceful snow-clad mountain stands out unperturbed against the deep blue of the horizon. Yet it is reduced to a tiny hillock compared with the towering strength of the wave which threatens to engulf the struggling boats. Such clever, playful manipulation of the composition is a feature of many of Hokusai's works. This monumental series was the first to exploit the new chemical Berlin blue pigment, which had recently become cheaply available from China. It provided Hokusai with a strong blue for both sky and water and had the added advantage that it did not fade. Hokusai's series was so commercially successful that the publisher, Nishimuraya Eijudō, extended it with another ten prints, printed this time with black instead of blue outlines.

Titles:

The Great Wave (preferred,C,U,RP,English-P,U,U)

Under the Wave, off Kanagawa (C,U,English,U,U)

Kanagawa oki nami-ura (C,U,Japanese (transliterated),U,U)

神奈川沖浪裏 (C,U,Japanese,U,U)

Thirty-six Views of Mt. Fuji (C,U,SE,undetermined,U,U)

富岳三十六景 (C,U,SE,Japanese,U,U)

Fugaku sanjūrokkei (C,U,SE,Japanese (transliterated),U,U)

Catalog Level: item

Work Types:

color woodcut (print) [300041412] (preferred)

..... (Objects Facet, Visual and Verbal Communication (hierarchy name), Visual Works (hierarchy name), visual works (works), <visual works by material or technique>, prints (visual works), <prints by process or technique>, <prints by process: transfer method>, relief prints, woodcuts (prints))

Classifications:

prints (preferred)

Asian art

Creation Date: 1831, probably late 1831

Creator Display:

Artist: Katsushika Hokusai; Publisher: Nishimuraya Yohachi, Eijudö [preferred,VP]

printmaker Katsushika Hokusai (Japanese printmaker, painter, 1760-1849) [500060426]

publishers Nishimura Eijudo (Japanese publishing house, 18th-19th centuries) [500312961]

Locations:

Current: British Museum (London, Greater London, England, United Kingdom) [500125180] Corporate Bodies (Corp. Body)

Repository Numbers: 2008,3008.1.JA

Credit Line: Acquisition supported by the Brooke Sewell Bequest and the Art Fund. Collected by Réné Druart (1888-1961); by family descent (according to Sotheby's) and sold by Sotheby's, Paris, 14 June

Other: Publication: Tōkyō [7004472] (Geographic)

Display Materials: colour woodblock print

	colored ink [300126356]
	.......(Materials Facet, Materials (hierarchy name), materials (substances), <materials by function>, coating (material), <coating by form>, ink, <ink by property>)

	color (pigment) [300264870]
	.......(Materials Facet, Materials (hierarchy name), materials (substances), <materials by function>)

	paper (fiber product) [300014109]
	.......(Materials Facet, Materials (hierarchy name), materials (substances), <materials by form>, <materials by physical form>, <fiber and fiber by product>, <fiber by product>)

	woodcut (process) [300053296]
	.......(Activities Facet, Processes and Techniques (hierarchy name), <processes and techniques by specific type>, <image-making processes and techniques>, <printing and printing processes and techniques>, printing processes, relief printing processes)

	nishiki-e [300041507]
	.......(Objects Facet, Visual and Verbal Communication (hierarchy name), Visual Works (hierarchy name), visual works (works), <visual works by material or technique>, prints (visual works), <prints by process or technique>, <prints by process: transfer method>, relief prints, woodcuts (prints), color woodcuts (prints))

Dimensions: Height: 25.8 centimetres; Width: 37.9 centimetres

Cultures:

Japanese (preferred)

Style/Period/Group/Movement:

	Tenpō [300390516] (preferred,N/A)
	.....(Styles and Periods Facet, Styles and Periods (hierarchy name), <styles| periods| and cultures by region>, Asian, East Asian, Japanese (culture or style), Early Modern Japanese, Edo (Japanese period), Late Edo)

General Subject:

seascapes (preferred,description)

Specific Subjects:

	Fuji, Mount [1107685]
	.....() (TGN)

	Kanagawa [1004811]
	.....() (TGN)

	wave (natural event) [300343616]
	.....(Activities Facet, Events (hierarchy name), events (activities), natural events) (AAT)

	boat [300178749]
	.....(Objects Facet, Furnishings and Equipment (hierarchy name), Transportation Vehicles (hierarchy name), vehicles (transportation), watercraft, <watercraft by general type>) (AAT)

	fishermen (people) [300025608]
	.....(Agents Facet, People (hierarchy name), people (agents), <people by occupation>, <people in agriculture or natural resource occupations>) (AAT)

Outside Iconography:

	Code: 25H2311 Term: wave
	.....Source: Iconclass Illustrated Edition (2022-)

	Code: 25H23124 Term: tidal wave
	.....Source: Iconclass Illustrated Edition (2022-)

	Code: sh 85052253 Term: Fuji, Mount (Japan)
	.....Source: Library of Congress Authorities online (2002-)

Provenance: Purchased through: Sotheby's (Paris, 14 June 2007, lot 22) biography With contribution from: Brooke Sewell Bequest biography With contribution from: The Art Fund biography Purchased from: Israel Goldman biography Previous owner/ex-collection: René Druart biography

Inscriptions: Inscription Type: signature; Inscription Transliteration: Hokusai aratame Iitsu hitsu; Inscription Translation: From the brush of Hokusai changing to Iitsu

List/Hierarchical Position:

..... Movable Works

.......... Movable Works by class: drawings, paintings, prints, other two-dimensional media

..... Conceptual Works

.......... Conceptual Works by class: for movable works

............... Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji: First Series

.................... Great Wave off Kanagawa

Sources and Contributors:
The Great Wave	........ [VP]
	........ British Museum [online] (1999-)
Under the Wave, off Kanagawa	........ [VP]
	........ British Museum [online] (1999-)
Kanagawa oki nami-ura	........ [VP]
	........ British Museum [online] (1999-)
神奈川沖浪裏	........ [VP]
	........ British Museum [online] (1999-)
Thirty-six Views of Mt. Fuji	........ [VP]
	........ British Museum [online] (1999-)
富岳三十六景	........ [VP]
	........ British Museum [online] (1999-)
Fugaku sanjūrokkei	........ [VP]
	........ British Museum [online] (1999-)

Subject: ....... [VP]

....................... Encyclopedia Britannica Online (2002-)

....................... British Museum [online] (1999-)

Note:
English	..... [VP]
	..... British Museum [online] (1999-)