The Great Wave
Phung Lam
Art 100
Tues/Thurs-11:00
The Great Wave
The Great Wave off Kanagawa, also known as The Great Wave, the most Hokusai’s famous work is the first woodblock print in his series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji. It was published sometime between 1830 and 1833.
Looking at Hokusai's prints, they are very accurate, virtuosity. So looking over the work, people can feel hardness as a product of a painter rather than an artist. However, as long I look at The Great Wave, the impression of the work will be more evolution, makes I even surprised by its modernity. When I look into the dark blue water streaks, I do not just feel the power of the waves, but also feel their movement. These blue streaks reflect the wave structure, and also express the direction of motion.
One of the impressions in this print is the fragility of human life in the face of nature, which opposes to the soft colors. Then go to the triangular layout, in which the direction of movement and their location form two arcs that intersect in the left at boat. At first, this layout does not seem to be special, but as soon as viewers seek to capture the panorama, their eyes unavoidable shifting back and forth on two arcs.
Nevertheless I was even more impressed by it when I saw its precursor, a print which Hokusai made more than ten years before The Great Wave. It is called Fast Cargo Boat Battling The Waves. In both works, the subjects are in the midst of a storm, beneath a great wave that threatens to devour them. Hokusai was obsessed by the crude, heavy waves, reflecting the great challenge that human have to go through. In Fast Cargo Boat the large wave is at the beginning of its descent back into the sea, but this shape is still too 'solid' to show the great force of the wave. In fact, it looks more like a mountain than a wave. By contrast, in The Great Wave he let the wave curl forward more so that it is about to collapse onto the boats beneath, the terrifying wall of water spiraling to
Art 100
Tues/Thurs-11:00
The Great Wave
The Great Wave off Kanagawa, also known as The Great Wave, the most Hokusai’s famous work is the first woodblock print in his series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji. It was published sometime between 1830 and 1833.
Looking at Hokusai's prints, they are very accurate, virtuosity. So looking over the work, people can feel hardness as a product of a painter rather than an artist. However, as long I look at The Great Wave, the impression of the work will be more evolution, makes I even surprised by its modernity. When I look into the dark blue water streaks, I do not just feel the power of the waves, but also feel their movement. These blue streaks reflect the wave structure, and also express the direction of motion.
One of the impressions in this print is the fragility of human life in the face of nature, which opposes to the soft colors. Then go to the triangular layout, in which the direction of movement and their location form two arcs that intersect in the left at boat. At first, this layout does not seem to be special, but as soon as viewers seek to capture the panorama, their eyes unavoidable shifting back and forth on two arcs.
Nevertheless I was even more impressed by it when I saw its precursor, a print which Hokusai made more than ten years before The Great Wave. It is called Fast Cargo Boat Battling The Waves. In both works, the subjects are in the midst of a storm, beneath a great wave that threatens to devour them. Hokusai was obsessed by the crude, heavy waves, reflecting the great challenge that human have to go through. In Fast Cargo Boat the large wave is at the beginning of its descent back into the sea, but this shape is still too 'solid' to show the great force of the wave. In fact, it looks more like a mountain than a wave. By contrast, in The Great Wave he let the wave curl forward more so that it is about to collapse onto the boats beneath, the terrifying wall of water spiraling to