Photo By Gail

Wow, how often do you get to see such a great and globally famous work of art? Well, if you’re me it happens all the time. But maybe you are not so lucky, so The Gig brings famous art to your face, for free! You’re welcome! Under the Wave of Kanagawa, also known as The Great Wave, by Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai (1760 – 1849) comes from the series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku sanjurokkei).

The breathtaking composition of this woodblock print, said to have inspired Debussy’s La Mer (The Sea) and Rilke’s Der Berg (The Mountain), ensures its reputation as an icon of the art world. Hokusai cleverly played with perspective to make Japan’s grandest mountain appear as a small and triangular mound within the hollow of the cresting wave. The artist became famous for his landscapes, created using a palette of indigo and imported Prussian blue

The Great Wave is Part of the Exhibit Discovering Japanese Art: American Collectors and The Met, Galleries 223-232, Second Floor, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC.