The Great Wave Off Kanagawa - Hokusai

the great wave off kanagawa by hokusai

Hokusai was known for his unique landscape representation. Over the course of his career he changed his name several times, and used different media and techniques. He liked to depict everyday scenes rather than just the lives and world of the wealthy. This print, one of the better known prints from the series of 36 Views of Mount Fuji, is a great example of that.

The Great Wave is not a painting but a woodblock print. The surface of the woodblock is first chiseled and cut, leaving a design. Black or colored ink is then applied to the raised woodblock. A piece of paper is placed over the block and rubbed with a pad that transfers ink to the paper.

Mount Fuji, a well know landmark in Japan, is pictured in the background of this woodblock print, with a stormy seascape in the foreground. Three fishing barges are pictured in the stormy waves. Below is a description of the piece from the Metropolitan Museum of Art (http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/JP1847)

The preeminence of this print—said to have inspired both Debussy's La Mer and Rilke's Der Berg—can be attributed, in addition to its sheer graphic beauty, to the compelling force of the contrast between the wave and the mountain. The turbulent wave seems to tower above the viewer, whereas the tiny stable pyramid of Mount Fuji sits in the distance. The eternal mountain is envisioned in a single moment frozen in time. Hokusai characteristically cast a traditional theme in a novel interpretation. In the traditional meisho-e (scene of a famous place), Mount Fuji was always the focus of the composition. Hokusai inventively inverted this formula and positioned a small Mount Fuji within the midst of a thundering seascape. Foundering among the great waves are three boats thought to be barges conveying fish from the southern islands of Edo. Thus a scene of everyday labor is grafted onto the seascape view of the mountain.

Hokusai background: Some information is written below but the Hokusai website is also a great resource (click here)

Hokusai was born in 1760, in Katsushika,a district in the east of Edo (now Tokyo). His birth name was Tokitarō. He started painting when he was six years old and at twelve his father sent him to work at a booksellers. At sixteen, he was apprenticed as an engraver and spent three years learning the trade. At the same time he began to produce his own illustrations. At eighteen he was accepted as an apprentice to the artist Katsukawa Shunshō, one of the foremost artists of the time. After a year, his master gave him the name Shunrō, the name he used to sign his first works in 1779.

Shunshō died in 1793, so by himself Hokusai began to study distinct Japanese and Chinese styles and some Dutch and French painting. During this period he mainly concentrated on producing surimono, or New Year's cards, and advertisements, scenes of daily life and landscapes. In 1800 he published Famous Views of the Eastern Capital and Eight views of Edo, and also began to accept students. It was during this period that he began to use the name Hokusai; he used more than 30 different pseudonyms (names) during his life.

In the late 1820s, he published Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji, which proved so popular that he later added a further ten prints. Later works included Unusual Views of Celebrated Bridges in the Provinces, A Tour of the Waterfalls of the Provinces and One Hundred Views of Mount Fuji. In 1839, his studio burned down and most of his work was destroyed. He died at the age of 89, in 1849.

questions:

Does this look realistic or imagined? Hokusai depicts the scene from this series of prints not exactly as they appear in nature, but as if they are viewed from many angels and in varied circumstances. It may appear as realistic but it is not.

Go to the web and project examples of the Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji (click here for all prints). Discuss how each picture is "of Mount Fuji" but how they are all drastically different.

Has anyone been to the ocean? Has anyone gone into the waves? How did that feel? How does this picture make you feel?

Has anyone been fishing on a boat? Was it hard or easy to catch the fish? How do you think the fishermen were feeling? Why do you think they were fishing in the ocean?

What time of day do you think it is? What season do you think it is?

Talk about the colors used in this print and elaborate on the art of how woodblock prints are made.

activities:

During the presentation play an oceans sound CD in the background.

Using the idea of landscapes, give the children each a piece of paper, then ask them to draw or paint a "classroomscape" — a view of their classroom, as they see it from their seats. Tie this into the 36-views discussion by having each child draw only what they see in front of them from their seat. At the end you can compare these pictures and discuss how they are all "drawing their classroom" but the pictures are drastically different from each other, just like the 36 views.

Show other prints, like the Waterfall, and let the students compare the landscapes. Focus the discussion on mood, colors, style, etc. Compare woodblock printing to traditional painting, what is the same? What is different?

Ask the children to draw their own fisherman picture, reminding them that fishing was a very important part of the lives of many Japanese people in those days.

Ask the children to draw their own seascape, then allow for time for some of the students to explain their drawing.

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