Hokusai's Great Wave: Impressions, Editions and Faithful Recuts
Under the Wave off Kanagawa, known everywhere as the Great Wave, was designed by Katsushika Hokusai around 1830 to 1832 for his series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji. A towering wave claws over three boats while Fuji sits small and still in the distance. It is the most reproduced Japanese image in the world, and collectors meet it in every form from an Edo-period impression to a postcard.
How it was made
Like all ukiyo-e, the Great Wave was a collaboration. Hokusai drew the design; a carver cut it into cherry-wood blocks, one for each colour; and a printer applied pigment and pressed paper onto the blocks by hand with a baren pad. The publisher, Nishimuraya Yohachi, financed and sold the series. The prints were affordable, and the blocks were used for many impressions until they wore.
Prussian blue
The Great Wave's blues use Prussian blue, a synthetic pigment imported into Japan in the early nineteenth century. Its depth and stability were new, and it gave the series its character.
Early and later impressions
As blocks wore, lines thickened, breaks appeared and colours were simplified. Collectors judge an impression by:
- Line: crisp, unbroken outlines in the wave's claws and the boats.
- Colour: subtle gradations of blue, especially in the sky.
- Cloud and sky details: early impressions show features that later ones lose.
- Condition: fading, trimming, wormholes, stains and repairs.
Edo-period impressions of the Great Wave are rare and valuable, and most are in museums.
Recuts: a legitimate way to own the image
Since the early twentieth century, Japanese publishers have carved new blocks from the original design and printed them by hand with traditional materials. These recuts are not forgeries when honestly described. Respected publishers mark them with their own seals. A fine recut gives a far truer sense of the original than any photographic reproduction.
Questions collectors ask
How can I tell a recut from an original?
By paper, the publisher's seals, the colours and the condition. Original impressions are almost two centuries old and show it. Read Authenticating Japanese Art and Collections.
How many Great Waves were printed?
No one knows exactly. Estimates suggest several thousand, of which a small fraction survive.
Is a photographic reproduction worth collecting?
As decoration, yes; as an artwork, no. A hand-printed recut is a woodblock print in its own right.