Eva's Art Analysis
Under The Wave Off Kanawaga
History Behind the Art
In 1830 a Japanese artist by the name of Hokusai created what was going to be his most famous work of art, which we now know as The Great Wave today. The Great Wave or Under The Wave Off Kanawaga (this is what the piece’s original title translates to) is one of thirty-six pieces of woodblock art that Hokusai created for his Thirty-six views of Mount Fuji series. Woodblock printing is an art form that involves carving designs, pictures, and stories into pieces of wood. Once the story has been carved into the wood it is painted and the paper is placed on top so that the transferring of paint from block-to-print can be completed. In the Japanese time period of Hokusai (the Edo period) this form of art was called Ukiyo-e art. The Edo period of time included the Russians trying and failing to open up trade relations with the Japanese and Western civilization introducing itself to Japan. It is said that this piece carries Western influence. Now, how much of it actually portrays Western influence and how much of it simply displays Hokusai’s original eye I cannot say.
Elements of the Print
Studying this work of art I am instantly drawn into how big the wave looks. This is due to how Hokusai uses his space. By placing Mount Fuji as a seemingly small mountain in the back of his print, I am given the impression that there is distance and depth in this story. That the men at sea (fishermen perhaps) are far away from land. This distance is also enhanced by his use of color, the way that the horizon near Mount Fuji is darker than the light clouds near the wave’s peak.
The next thing that caught my eye in this piece are the little points he created to serve as the spray of water from the waves. These points seem to be a simple element of the print but add so much motion and movement to the way the wave is hitting the men at sea.
Last but not least I enjoyed noticing the patterns at play. The waves give us a very organic pattern and are moving in constant motion. To me the painting is very balanced looking due to the way that Hokusai had the lines of the waves both on the right and the left touch the edge of the print on nearly the same level. We also see man-made patterns in the form of the boats. What I love about this pattern is even though the boats are man-made they have been designed to fit the curves of the waves and the organic patterns in the world. So you could say that the man-made pattern you see is really just a copycat of the organic pattern at play.
Evoked Emotion
This story created by Hokusia brings me out onto the waters of the Yukon River where I’ve experienced my own scary waves on rafts. It can be a terrifying experience when your watercraft starts falling apart by the Water and Wind’s angry dispute with each other. The Water is so deep, dark, and murky. The Wind is so strong, loud, and cold. Both carry the means to push you overboard where you will be lost forever.
Yet at the same time this experience can be thrilling, the question is drumming through your head, louder than the Wind. Will we live? This is what I see when I look at the men facing the great wave. They are not under the wave yet! In fact Mount Fuji, as far as it may appear to be, is still there, they are not lost at sea, yet. There is still hope amidst the odds against them in this story.
But, this hope doesn’t get rid of that eerie doubt I feel when I see this story. That doubt that these men at sea won’t make it home to their children and wives, the doubt that these sons will not see their mothers again, the doubt that Mount Fuji is just a taunt that the men and boys have ventured too far from home to ever return. It can be a heavy, suffocating, feeling, that this story leaves behind.
Placement
The Great Wave can be seen on t-shirts, tote bags, books, walls, cups, etc. etc. etc. It is so well known because of the place it holds in marketing around the world. The original prints were around (10.1 in x 14.9 in) a little bigger than a normal sized piece of paper and there were supposedly 8,000 prints from the original woodblock by Hokusai. If I owned one of these original prints of The Great Wave it would be placed in a frame carved by my dad in a room that is dedicated to dreaming, creating, and executing stories. Because to me this is exactly what The Great Wave or Under the Wave Off Kanawaga holds. A story that was dreamt, created, and executed, leading it to be shared around the world throughout time.
Sources:
YouTube, 12 Sept. 2017, https://youtu.be/vhbSt_EVb7I. Accessed 31 May 2022.
YouTube, 19 May 2017, https://youtu.be/d1ufFlXIWjA. Accessed 31 May 2022.
Hello Eva,
ReplyDeleteThis is the first time I've heard about this art style from Japan! Very unique and cool to see. The people and the mountain in the art piece really help as a visual reference so that we can determine just how large this wave actually is. Something that really caught my eye though was this artist's use of what's known as the rule of thirds. The rule of thirds is a common method used in photography in which you imagine a 3x3 grid and place interesting subjects at the intersections of the grid. In this work, we can see that the artist has placed mount Fuji in what I would consider the bottom right intersection if we were going to draw a 3x3 grid over this, and that really adds to the composition and draws your eyes to it!
Thanks for sharing this wonderful art piece!