Art Creation & Reflection Discussion Paper

Art Creation & Reflection – Painting

Figure 1. The Great Wave of Kanagawa c. 1829 to 1833, by Katsushika Hokusai

Exhibited in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, The Great Wave of Kanagawa (also known as Under the Wave off Kanagawa) is one of the most iconic Japanese art pieces by Katsushika Hokusai. Measuring approximately 10 by 15 inches, it is identified from a series that has 36 prints, and forms part of the artist’s interpretation of the view of Mount Fuji. All the prints in the series offer a glimpse of Mount Fuji, although the mountain does not always dominate the view (Kamhi, 2020).

As the first print in the series, The Great Wave of Kanagawa was produced between 1829 and 1833, in a polychrome wood block print that presented ink and color on paper. It presents Mount Fuji in the center background with massive cresting waves dominating the foreground. Three wooden boats are seen within the frame of the print with the waves threatening to crash them. Art Creation & Reflection Discussion Paper  The print presents a captivating visual play. A tiny snow-capped mountain appears in the background with perspective used to make it tiny so that the waves are seen to look more threatening with the illusion that they can swallow the mountain. The three boats with occupants are under the massive waves and so is the mountain. As a snow capped mountain it is not hard to imaging its size, yet the waves appear to swallow the mountain in the next moment. The optical play in the print is heavy hearted as lives are threatened by the massive cresting waves that appear as monsters with claws. The white crests at the tip of the waves are clawing towards the boats and could swallow them at any moment (Guth, 2015).

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The composition of this print is arranged to frame the mountain. The hull of the boats and curves of the waves tip low enough to make the base of the mountain visible. The diagonal line from the white top of the cresting wave leads viewers directly to the peak of the mountain. The enormous cresting wave captures the attention of viewers as it sweeps objects off in the background. The ferocious waves take up more than half of the composition, foretelling the impending disaster for the boats, their occupants and the mountain. The waves are in different shades of white and blue, showing that they are a blend of elements producing a new ferocious element. A closer look at the composition reveals the three brown boats that are made of wood (from the brown color) and being battered by the waves that are swaying them out of control and could swallow them at any moment (Kamhi, 2020).

Objectively looking at the composition, the first thing that comes to mind is that this could be a tsunami. Irrespective of whether it is a tsunami or not, it reveals the unpredictability of nature and how man is just an insignificant part of nature that could easily be swallowed. Also, it shows that nature is unforgiving, and that even significant features like mountains could easily be wiped out (Clark, 2017).

Created using the wood block printing technique (ukiyo method) it reveals a blend between sculptures and painters. The two (sculpture and painter) had to work together to design and carve out the wood bloods that produced cheap printing blocks. The cheap prints that results from this style made paintings more available to the larger population with significant appear across all socioeconomic groups (Clark, 2017).

References

Clark, T. (Ed.) (2017). Hokusai: Beyond the Great Wave. Thames & Hudson in collaboration with the British Museum.

Guth, C. M. (2015). Hokusai’s Great Wave: Biography of a Global Icon. University of Hawaii Press.

Kamhi, M. M. (2020). Bucking the Artworld Tide: Reflections on Art, Pseudo Art, Art Education & Theory. Pro Arte Books.  Art Creation & Reflection Discussion Paper