The Big wave - Gallery-style

Katsushika Hokusai completed this composition around 1831, among the first plates issued in his series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku sanjūrokkei). The image — formally titled Under the Wave off Kanagawa (Kanagawa-oki nami-ura) — places a giant curling wave in the foreground with three oshiokuri boats caught in its trough, and a small, stable Fuji visible through the crest. The wave and the mountain occupy the same frame: the one violent and temporary, the other permanent and distant.

The print was produced using the nishiki-e technique — multiblock colour printing — with Prussian blue (bero-ai) as its dominant colour. Prussian blue had become available to Japanese printmakers only recently through trade with the Netherlands, and Hokusai used its unusual depth and tonal range to achieve gradations in the water that earlier mineral blues could not provide. The foam at the crest breaks into precise claw-like forms, each individually cut and printed with the accuracy that defined the highest tier of Edo printmaking.

This gallery-style edition is printed on satin-coated cotton canvas, stretched over a solid wooden frame and ready to hang without additional framing. The canvas surface and the absence of glass suit the strong graphic qualities of the composition: the deep Prussian blue, the dense black outline, and the strong diagonal of the wave crest hold well on textile. It works at significant scale — a living room, a hallway, or a dining room where the wave's energy has room to move across the wall.

Multiple sizes are available, all produced from the same high-resolution archival source to preserve Hokusai's precise linework and colour gradations. The canvas is stretched and ready to hang.

Frequently asked questions

What is the formal title of this print, and what series does it belong to?
The full title is Under the Wave off Kanagawa (Kanagawa-oki nami-ura), from Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku sanjūrokkei). Hokusai published the series from around 1830–1832; it ultimately comprised forty-six prints. This wave composition was among the first issued.

What is Prussian blue, and why was it significant for Hokusai?
Prussian blue (ferric ferrocyanide, known in Japan as bero-ai) became accessible to Japanese printmakers in the early nineteenth century through Dutch trade. Its depth of colour and wide tonal range — the capacity to shade from near-black to clear pale blue — gave Hokusai a tool that mineral-based blues could not match; the wave's graduated water tones depend on it.

What does the gallery-style canvas format mean?
The print is produced on satin-coated cotton canvas, stretched over a solid wooden frame with the image extending to the edges. There is no glass or acrylic — the canvas is the finished face of the work, requiring no further framing before hanging.

What size and placement work best?
The wave's strong diagonal and high graphic contrast reward larger formats — 50×70 cm and above — where the crest detail, the foam, and the distant Fuji can all be read at once. It anchors well in a dining room, a living room, or a hallway where a strong visual presence is appropriate.