The art of Hokusai's Great Wave off Kanagawa explained

Possibly the most reproduced image in the history of art, Hokusai’s okiyo-e of a giant wave with claw-like appendages threatening to engulf three little boats while a snow-capped Mount Fuji stands impassive in the background, has been described as iconic, powerful, terrifying, mysterious, unique and omnipresent.


Cover of the 1905 first edition of Debussy’s La Mer (The Met)

Arguably the single most famous image in all Asian art, the Great Wave has inspired and influenced countless artists including Debussy, Van Gogh and Courbet.

As it looms over them, its cartoonish clawed fingers of foam reaching for its prey, the fishermen in their long, sleek boats are forever poised on the brink of annihilation. Like viewers of the work, the fishermen are suspended in time between tragedy and farce. Full of visual play, the great wave takes on human-like characteristics, the smaller wave in the foreground mimicking the white peak of Mount Fuji’s calm and unchanging presence in the distance.

In this 15-minute video, Great Art Explained discusses the historical context of the Edo period in Japan and the birth of okiyo-e, and the Great Wave’s enduring appeal and influence on Western art.