MADURA MHBL-7802









The Great Wave off Kanagawa is one of the most famous woodblock print by the Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai. We would call "Off Kanagawa, the back of a wave" as the Japanese name. It was published in 1832 (Edo Period) as the first work in Hokusai's series“ Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji”and it is his most famous one. A big wave threatening boats near Kanagawa, the Japanese prefecture, is depicted. Mount Fuji, the most famous and tallest mountain in Japan, can be seen in the background. The ocean wave is created by the wind. Like the other prints in the series, it depicts the area around Mount Fuji under particular conditions.
He was a Japanese artist,ukiyo-e painter and printmaker of the Edo period. He was known as the author of "Ukiyo-e", a style of wood block prints and paintings.One of his famous masterpiece is the woodblock series "Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji", created between 1823 and 1833. He was born in Honjo Warigesui,Edo(Tokyo). His childhood name is Tokitaro. Using multiple names is the common practce of the Japanese artist at that time, and he had at least 30 names during his lifetime.He was adopted into a Nakajima Ise's family, and Nakajima is the mirror craftsman who works for "shogun (military commander). Hokusai became a pupil of Katsukawa Shunsho and his first published workappeared in 1780 under the name of Shunro.He studied various styles of art including landscape and developed his talents, which influenced on not only Jananese art and culture, but overseas.