Hokusai’s Great Wave

Do you think he developed as an artist, or if he changed style?

Author: Janet Carr

Fashion, beauty and animal loving language consultant from South Africa living in Stockholm, Sweden.

4 thoughts

    1. These are all Hokusai works done over time. Here is a description:

      Most people are familiar with The Great Wave off Kanagawa — one of the most iconic images in Japanese art and worldwide.But what many don’t realize is that it took Hokusai nearly a lifetime to create it.

      He spent decades studying the movement of water, trying again and again to express the feeling he saw in the waves.

      Here is a brief overview of the development of Hokusai’s wave imagery over time:

      ① 1797 – Spring View of Enoshima: A calm sea. The wave is in the background—people are the focus here.
      ② 1803 – View of Honmoku off Kanagawa: The wave gets stronger and more dynamic. Boats start to look small next to it.
      ③ 1805 – Wave and Sailing Boats: Now the wave is front and center. You can see hints of The Great Wave already.
      ④ 1831 – The Great Wave off Kanagawa: Finally, the wave takes over. Tiny boats struggle in the water. Mount Fuji stands in the distance. It’s powerful, overwhelming.

      Hokusai once said he didn’t feel proud of his art until he was past 70. He believed that if he kept going, maybe by 80 or 90, his drawings would be truly great—and by 100, they might even come alive. For him, art was never about reaching a finish line. It was about growing, learning, and evolving.

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