The Great Wave

The Great Wave

The Great Wave is a woodblock print created by Katsushika Hokusai which is part of the collection of the Thirty-six Views of Mt.Fuji. Hokusai’s life is defined by his passion for art; he spent most of his life creating art pieces and often they were signed off with “The old man mad about painting” (Katushika). His prints were collected by many famous impressionist artists in the later years such as Claude Monet. The Great Wave is Hokusai’s most significant work in his Mt.Fuji series during the peak of his creativity.

The print showed a huge wave coming down against three boats where fishermen were crouching down as they were surrendering to it. The wave is deadly and furious as the thick, hardened skeletal lines gave the wave claws. The thickness of the wave is then softened by the touch of bubbles of mist (Katushika). The curved line of the waves guided the viewer through the wave, passing the boats and to the landmark mountain (Katushika). The wave showed that nature does not show mercy as it is attacking the innocents who raise themselves with fishing. The life of these fishermen is in the hands of the monstrous wave. With the curves of the waves and how one boat is behind a smaller wave, it made the print move as it was curling towards it and tossing the boat in the air. The size of the innocents are incredibly small compared to the wave. The comparison again showed that nature has enough power to take over men. 

Although many of the works in the Thirty-Six views of Mt.Fuji do not focus on the mountain itself, this print showed the unpredictable power of nature taking over men. This print showed that nature, especially water, has no clemency as the life of the fishermen were in its hand. When the sea of water is affected by the movement of Earth and other elements, the boats and settlements crumble and men perish.