He’s one of the most illustrious names in Japanese art: Katsushika Hokusai, the masterful 19th-century printmaker. His tour-de-force works established the widespread appeal of landscape woodblock prints, or ukiyo-e, in Japan’s Edo period (1603-1868). Two centuries later, these scenes continue to cast a spell over the art world, having inspired artists ranging from Vincent van Gogh to Yoshitomo Nara.
Ukiyo-e prints portrayed the ‘floating world’ of Edo (now Tokyo), depicting bathhouses, pavilions, theatres and other scenes from the lively urban centre. Kabuki actors were amongst the genre’s most popular subjects, but Hokusai diverged from tradition. ‘He’s one of the first artists to work on landscapes rather than images of actors and beauties,’ says Takaaki Murakami, Christie’s head of Japanese Art.
On 10 June 2026, Hokusai’s most iconic print, Kanagawa oki nami ura (Under the well of the Great Wave off Kanagawa), widely known as The Great Wave, will be offered in the Art d’Asie sale at Christie’s in Paris.
The work was originally part of a set of prints, Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji, published to great acclaim in Japan between 1830 and 1834. Perhaps the most striking aspect of the series is Hokusai’s copious use of the newly accessible Prussian blue pigment, brought to Japan by Western traders around the turn of the 19th century. Hokusai also drew significant inspiration from 18th-century Dutch manuals on linear perspective, incorporating the technique into his compositions.
Both of these novel elements are present in The Great Wave, with the brilliant blue capturing the dynamic energy of the towering wave. Today, it stands as one of the most widely reproduced images in the world.
AloJapan.com