For centuries, the East and West have existed as what seem to be distinct entities — so different in culture and ideology that the art they produced reflected those stark differences. While Western art focused extensively on perspective and individual expressionism, East Asian art maintained its historical lineage of searching for “essence” in life and depicting the philosophical ideas of Buddhism and Daoism. However, as suited to the adventurous spirit of the great explorers, cultural exchange between the two was an inevitable historical product that brought excitement and revolution.
Arguably, no artist held as large an influence on the West as the renowned Japanese woodblock artist Katsushika Hokusai (葛飾北斎). The Impressionist movement and the modern practice of art in the West are inspired products of this cultural exchange. Among his many prints, none has been engraved so thoroughly into the Western imagination as Hokusai’s “The Great Wave off Kanagawa” (神奈川沖浪裏) — or simply, “The Great Wave.” Yet less frequently acknowledged is how “The Great Wave” also demonstrates the earliest signs of Western influence on East Asian art.
Before diving in, it is worth outlining the key characteristics of traditional Japanese woodblock prints and Western artworks. Ukiyo-e (浮世絵), the name of the genre that defined woodblock prints from the 18th to 20th centuries, translates to “pictures of the floating world.” True to its name, the perspective creates an illusion of ‘floating’: a relaxed bird’s-eye-view that allows the viewer to take in multiple elements of the prints a the same time. The images and lines are bold and flat, with clear outlines, extravagant patterns and vibrant colors. On the other hand, Western Renaissance and Neoclassical paintings (before the 19th century) almost always followed a strict geometric perspective defined by a single focal point. They emphasized technical mastery of realistic lighting and the depiction of the human body.
Now, let’s turn to “The Great Wave.” What a spectator may first notice is the looming power of the wave, which takes up more than half the composition. Below the wave, three layers of speedboats race through, with men desperately clinging to the wooden ridges of the boats so as to avoid being thrown overboard. In the distance stands Mount Fuji — the subject of many of Hokusai’s prints — its snow-capped peak echoing the color scheme and form of the waves. All of this calamity for survival unfolds beneath a calming and soft yellow background. As a whole, the print displays the tremendous force and alluring strength of nature and humans’ negligible efforts to overcome it.
At first glance, the print fits many of the criteria for a great piece of Ukiyo-e: The balance of yin and yang (the warm background and harsh waves), Shinto teachings (nature as omnipotent) and Buddhist philosophy (the relationship between humans and their surroundings). The vibrant ultramarine imbues the scene with a strong visual message, and most of all, it’s painted by the regarded Hokusai.
Upon closer observation, however, “The Great Wave” also reveals subtle Western influences. The alignment of the large wave and Mount Fuji establishes a clear one-point perspective, more typical of European art than Japanese tradition. Hokusai’s use of Prussian blue — an imported pigment from Holland introduced through global trade — further deepened the striking ultramarine of the sea, enhancing the chaos and vitality of its waves.
In our next issue, we will take a closer look at why the Western art world elevated Hokusai above his Ukiyo-e contemporaries of the Edo period, and how “The Great Wave” achieved the immortal global status it has today, representative of Japanese art as a whole.
