Finding the Meaning Behind Hokusai's The Great Wave Off Kanagawa

There are often many ways and means of interpreting a piece of art or literature. Depending on the angle and perspective you take, an individual piece can hold many meanings, each of which may be accurate or inaccurate.

Hokusai's The Great Wave Off Kanagawa is one such piece of art that has not only influenced many great artists such as Claude Monet and Vincent Van Gogh, but it has also received a lot of varying interpretations at different levels.

This is why owning your own The Great Wave Art Poster can be a real treat, not just for you and those in your home, but for all your family, friends, and guests as well. As a piece that's influenced art in tremendous ways, The Great Wave Off Kanagawa will always be a piece that invites discussion and introspection.

But what, really, are some meanings and interpretations behind Hokusai's great artwork? That's something we're here to explore further in this article.

Who is Katsushika Hokusai?

Hokusai was a Japanese ukiyo-e artist that lived during the Edo period. Ukiyo-e is a genre of Japanese art that was popular from the 17th through the 19th centuries, wherein the main subjects of the genre were kabuki actors, sumo wrestlers, and courtesans. It was Hokusai who was considered instrumental in expanding the scope of the genre to include travel scenes, landscapes, and scenes from history and folk tales.

Hokusai was one such artist that flourished and gained in popularity during this period. He is best known for his woodblock print series, Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji. It's within this series that The Great Wave Off Kanagawa is included.

Throughout his lifetime, Hokusai produced over 30,000 pieces of art. These included paintings, sketches, woodblock prints, and picture book illustrations, earning him a spot as one of the great masters in art history. One of the best ways to get a hold of Hokusai's work, then, would be by purchasing a The Great Wave Art Poster that you can neatly hang on your wall and admire every now and then.

The Great Wave's Socio-Historical Landscape

First created sometime around 1830, The Great Wave Off Kanagawa was produced during a time when Japan was undergoing a tremendous influx of ideas and influences from the Western world.

This change was even made more potent because of the fact that Japan had closed its borders 200 years ago, in 1639. Back then, Western culture was absolutely forbidden. Japan had closed itself off from the rest of the world.

Although Japan had opened its ports to foreigners only in 1859, Hokusai's work is seen as evidence that there was already some kind of cultural exchange happening even during the 1830s. During this time, the rest of the world was becoming more and more industrialized, which in turn increased concerns amongst the Japanese regarding a possible invasion.

It's this backdrop that The Great Wave Off Kanagawa is said to symbolize.

Off in the distance, we get a glimpse of the famous Mount Fuji, which has long been tied to and associated with Japan's national identity. Before the great Mount Fuji, then, we find torrential waves tormenting fearful Japanese fishermen who lie in fear of being engulfed in this huge wave.

This great wave could very well symbolize the culture of the West engulfing and swallowing Japan in its wake. And yet throughout all this, it's important to note how the fishermen in this image remain calm against the ebb and flow of the great wave. It could be, then, that this was Hokusai's way of showing the Japanese people that they were more than capable of riding the wave towards the uncertain future that lay before them.

Attachment and Relationship to Mount Fuji

It's important to note that The Great Wave is a part of the series of woodblock prints depicting Mount Fuji from various angles and scenes. Because he created this piece at seventy years old, Hokusai had come to believe that nothing he had ever created before this age was worthy.

And so he had decided to devote the rest of his remaining life and work to honoring the relationship he had with the mountain. In fact, an old folk tale refers to the mountain as the source of the secret to immortality, a fitting interpretation considering that it was this depiction of these great waves against the peak of Mount Fuji that solidified Hokusai's immortality and place amongst many of the greatest artists of all time.

Grab Your Own The Great Wave Art Posters to Admire and Appreciate at Home

There are a lot of great waves that come through different periods in each person's life, and Hokusai's rendition of these brave Japanese fishermen keeping calm amidst the huge waves can be a constant reminder to face one's fears and unknown futures with courage.

If you're looking to purchase your own The Great Wave Art Poster, to hang up in your home, then, feel free to check out our online store right here at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.