When woodÂcut artist KatÂsushiÂka HokuÂsai made his famous print The Great Wave off KanaÂgawa in 1830 — part of the series ThirÂty-six Views of Mount Fuji — he was 70 years old and had lived his entire life in a Japan closed off from the rest of the world. In the 19th cenÂtuÂry, howÂevÂer, “the rest of the world was becomÂing indusÂtriÂalÂized,” James Payne explains above in his Great Art Explained video, “and the JapanÂese were conÂcerned about forÂeign invaÂsions.” The Great Wave shows “an image of Japan fearÂful that the sea — which has proÂtectÂed its peaceÂful isoÂlaÂtion for so long — would become its downÂfall.”
It’s also true, howÂevÂer, that The Great Wave would not have existÂed withÂout a forÂeign invaÂsion. PrussÂian blue, the first staÂble blue pigÂment, acciÂdenÂtalÂly inventÂed around 1705 in Berlin, arrived in the ports of NagasaÂki on Dutch and ChiÂnese ships in the 1820s. PrussÂian Blue would start a new artisÂtic moveÂment in Japan, aizuri‑e, woodÂcuts printÂed in bright, vivid blues.
“HokuÂsai was one of the first JapanÂese printÂmakÂers to boldÂly embrace the colour,” Hugh Davies writes at The ConÂverÂsaÂtion, “a deciÂsion that would have major impliÂcaÂtions in the world of art.” When the country’s isoÂlaÂtionÂist poliÂcies endÂed in the 1850s, “a showÂcase at the inauÂgurÂal JapanÂese PavilÂion eleÂvatÂed the artisÂtic staÂtus of woodÂblock prints and a craze for their colÂlecÂtion quickÂly folÂlowed.”
Chief among the works colÂlectÂed in the EuroÂpean and AmerÂiÂcan ferÂvor for JapanÂese prints were those from HokuÂsai, his conÂtemÂpoÂrary Hiroshige, and othÂer aizuri‑e artists. So famous was The Great Wave in the West by 1891 that French graphÂic artist Pierre BonÂnard would satÂiÂrize its stylÂish spray in an adverÂtiseÂment for chamÂpagne. A print of The Great Wave hung on Claude Debussy’s wall, and the first ediÂtion of his La Mer bore an adapÂtaÂtion of a detail from the print. As Michael Cirigliano writes for the MetÂroÂpolÂiÂtan MuseÂum of Art:
CulÂturÂal cirÂcles throughÂout Europe greatÂly admired HokuÂsai’s work…. Major artists of the ImpresÂsionÂist moveÂment such as MonÂet owned copies of HokuÂsai prints, and leadÂing art critÂic Philippe BurÂty, in his 1866 Chefs-d’oeuÂvre des Arts indusÂtriels, even statÂed that HokuÂsai’s work mainÂtained the eleÂgance of WatÂteau, the fanÂtaÂsy of Goya, and the moveÂment of Delacroix. Going one step furÂther in his laudÂed comÂparÂisons, BurÂty wrote that HokuÂsai’s dexÂterÂiÂty in brush strokes was comÂpaÂraÂble only to that of Rubens.
These comÂparÂisons are not misÂplaced, John-Paul Stonard explains in The Guardian: “That the Great Wave became the best known print in the west was in large part due to Hokusai’s forÂmaÂtive expeÂriÂence of EuroÂpean art.” Not only did he absorb PrussÂian blue into his reperÂtoire, but “prints from earÂly in his career show him attemptÂing, rather awkÂwardÂly, to apply the lesÂson of mathÂeÂmatÂiÂcal perÂspecÂtive, learnt from EuroÂpean prints brought into Japan by Dutch Traders.” By the time of The Great Wave, he had perÂfectÂed his own synÂtheÂsis of WestÂern and JapanÂese art, over two decades before EuroÂpean painters would attempt the same in the exploÂsion of JapanophilÂia of the late 19th and earÂly 20th cenÂtuÂry.
RelatÂed ConÂtent:
Josh Jones is a writer and musiÂcian based in Durham, NC. FolÂlow him at @jdmagness
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