About The Great Wave off Kanagawa
The Great Wave off Kanagawa is a woodblock print by the Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai, made around 1830 to 1832. It belongs to his series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji, made when he was about seventy. A towering wave curls over three narrow boats, its crest breaking into claw-like fingers of foam, while Mount Fuji sits small and calm in the distance, framed by the hollow of the wave.
Because it is a print, there is no single original. Thousands of impressions were pulled from the carved woodblocks, and museums around the world hold copies; this one belongs to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The deep blue is Prussian blue, a synthetic pigment that had only recently become available in Japan, and it helped make the series a success.
The image later had a strong influence on European artists in the age of Japonisme, and it remains one of the most reproduced images in the history of art.
Tips for this puzzle
The pale sky and the beige paper look alike from piece to piece, so build the wave first: its blue bands and white foam give you strong lines to follow. Mount Fuji and the boats are good landmarks.
Katsushika Hokusai, The Great Wave off Kanagawa, 1831. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Public domain (CC0); image: www.metmuseum.org. Image source. All image credits
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Keyboard
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