By: Kayla
When you first hear of an artwork called The Great Wave off Kanagawa, what does it make you think of? When I hear this I think of a hurricane or some type of tsunami in effect. This historical artwork gives me an unsteady feeling and brings me a kind of paranoia of the ocean.
The Great Wave off Kanagawa is a Japanese woodblock print made by Katsushika Hokusai back sometime between 1829 and 1832. It is probably one of the most recognizable Japanese artworks worldwide. The work portrays a huge way appearing before these boats of Kanagawa. What blew my mind is that this actually isn’t an image of some horrendous hurricane, but just a wave of the sea also know as a large okinami. If you look closely you can see Mount Fuji in the background.
The movement of this work seems to be very rapid and ongoing. It reminds me of the instantaneous heartbeats of living creatures. This wave gives a chaotic feeling to me and the balance of this is asymmetrical. The contrast is created using lots of low intensity colors as well as it draws attention to of course the great wave itself. The proportions are are quite realistic compared to Egyptian hieroglyphics which has political figures as well as their gods appearing to be much larger than their people. The only pattern or rhythm that catches my eye would be the repetition of waves over and over again.
There are elements of art are expressed thoroughly throughout this piece of art. The texture is kind of rough and jagged because of the waves. The form seems to be spread out showing depth and width. Space pretty much ties together with what I said before. Foreground being the first swift boat in the front also known a Oshiokuribune in Japanese. The other boat and the great wave being the middle ground. While Mount Fuji is the background for this. The shapes are very organic. The lines appear curved, wavy, thick, and thin in various areas. Last, the values in this piece are dark and is related to the contrast as well.
So when you think of The Great Wave off Kanagawa now, you can picture such Japanese art with the elements and principles of art. This will express the true appearance and feelings of Katsushika Hokusai’s work other than expressing the paranoia I feel when I see this elaborate Japanese art.
