Under the Wave off Kanagawa
Explore the full image, museum catalogue record and an original close reading.
A maker across collections.
Hokusai: one design, different objects. →This work in Afterlives
Open a researched connection.
- What a mark remembersArtologium compares repetition and surface in a painted vessel and Hokusai’s print. No historical transmission between the two works is asserted.
- A blue that crossed borders.The British Museum connects the print’s Prussian blue to the pigment becoming cheaply available to Japanese publishers from China.
Follow the maker / Across collections & investigations
Katsushika Hokusai across 3 collections
Each museum’s exact creator wording is preserved on its record. Reconciled maker links group works attributed directly to Katsushika Hokusai while keeping workshop, studio, or “after” attributions distinct.
- Under the Wave off Kanagawa (Kanagawa oki nami ura), also known as The Great Wave, from the series "Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku sanjurokkei)"The Art Institute of Chicago · 1830/33 · 1928.1086 · Compare side by side →
- TravelersNational Museum of Asian Art · 1760-1849 · F1904.273 · Compare side by side →
- Flying CuckooNational Museum of Asian Art · ca. 1809 · F1904.187 · Compare side by side →
- GooseNational Museum of Asian Art · 1760-1849 · F1904.227 · Compare side by side →
An original close reading
Can a line hold a moment?
Follow the repeated hooks of foam. The wave is made legible through a rhythm of smaller marks, while the distant mountain offers a quieter, more stable triangle.
The image lets scale do the work: large water, narrow boats, a small mountain. Read this as a relationship within the composition, rather than evidence of the artist's private intention.
Catalogue facts are supplied by The Met. The reading above is an Artologium interpretation, not a statement of the maker’s intent.
Find this work in the exhibition →A record, with reasons
Ways into this work
Open a description to see its meaning and evidence, or follow it into the collection.
Catalogue knowledge
Normalized from the museum’s record.
PrintObject type
An image produced through a printing process.
The depicted subject does not determine the object type.
Normalized from the linked museum record; the original catalogue wording is retained.
Under the Wave off Kanagawa (Kanagawa oki nami ura), also known as The Great Wave, from the series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku sanjūrokkei) · Woodblock print; ink and color on paper
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Reviewed 2026-10-16 · 2026-10-16.1
InkMaterial
Ink recorded in the object's medium.
A depicted material or colour resemblance is a separate assertion.
Normalized from the linked museum record; the original catalogue wording is retained.
Woodblock print; ink and color on paper
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Reviewed 2026-10-16 · 2026-10-16.1
PaperMaterial
Paper recorded in the object's medium.
A depicted material or colour resemblance is a separate assertion.
Normalized from the linked museum record; the original catalogue wording is retained.
Woodblock print; ink and color on paper
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Reviewed 2026-10-16 · 2026-10-16.1
Woodblock printingTechnique
Woodblock printing identified in the source medium.
Do not infer a process solely from visual resemblance.
Normalized from the linked museum record; the original catalogue wording is retained.
Woodblock print; ink and color on paper
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Reviewed 2026-10-16 · 2026-10-16.1
Visual observation
Observations of the displayed image.
BoatsSubject
Visible boats in the represented scene.
Subject identification does not establish symbolic meaning or historical influence.
The complete view shows narrow boats, the curling wave, a small mountain, repeated crests and prominent blue passages.
Artologium editorial study · developed with AI assistance
Reviewed 2026-10-16 · 2026-10-16.1
MountainSubject
A mountain represented in the image.
Subject identification does not establish symbolic meaning or historical influence.
The complete view shows narrow boats, the curling wave, a small mountain, repeated crests and prominent blue passages.
Artologium editorial study · developed with AI assistance
Reviewed 2026-10-16 · 2026-10-16.1
WaterSubject
A visible depiction of water.
Subject identification does not establish symbolic meaning or historical influence.
The complete view shows narrow boats, the curling wave, a small mountain, repeated crests and prominent blue passages.
Artologium editorial study · developed with AI assistance
Reviewed 2026-10-16 · 2026-10-16.1
RepetitionComposition
A visible recurrence of marks, units, or forms within the image.
This observation belongs to the selected image; it does not establish the maker's intention.
The complete view shows narrow boats, the curling wave, a small mountain, repeated crests and prominent blue passages.
Artologium editorial study · developed with AI assistance
Reviewed 2026-10-16 · 2026-10-16.1
Following a lineComposition
A line or edge that can be followed through the selected image.
This observation belongs to the selected image; it does not establish the maker's intention.
The complete view shows narrow boats, the curling wave, a small mountain, repeated crests and prominent blue passages.
Artologium editorial study · developed with AI assistance
Reviewed 2026-10-16 · 2026-10-16.1
Receding spaceComposition
A composition that presents depth through overlapping or receding forms.
This observation belongs to the selected image; it does not establish the maker's intention.
The complete view shows narrow boats, the curling wave, a small mountain, repeated crests and prominent blue passages.
Artologium editorial study · developed with AI assistance
Reviewed 2026-10-16 · 2026-10-16.1
BlueColour
Blue is a prominent visible colour in the selected digital image.
A visual observation, not a measured pigment identification or a calibrated physical colour.
The complete view shows narrow boats, the curling wave, a small mountain, repeated crests and prominent blue passages.
Artologium editorial study · developed with AI assistance
Reviewed 2026-10-16 · 2026-10-16.1
Artologium reading
Authored connections, open to interpretation.
RememberCuratorial reading
Recording, remembrance, repetition as memory, and surviving traces.
Age alone is insufficient; the reading must explain what is recorded or remembered.
The printed line holds a wave in a fixed image; this is a reading of representation, not a claim about a recorded event.
Artologium editorial study · developed with AI assistance
Reviewed 2026-10-16 · 2026-10-16.1
ResistCuratorial reading
Encounters with force, constraint, opposition, or refusal.
Formal tension is distinct from documented political resistance.
The small boats and large curling water invite a reading of opposing scales and forces.
Artologium editorial study · developed with AI assistance
Reviewed 2026-10-16 · 2026-10-16.1
These descriptions belong to this object and its selected image. Unlisted features may be unassessed. Editorial observations and readings were developed with AI assistance; they do not establish the maker’s intent.
Keep something. Change the setting.
Follow a connection
A shared description opens a comparison. It does not establish historical influence.
Stay with this work
Let a detail lead you somewhere.
How blue behaves ↗
These five works across four museums share a visual colour family while differing in material, process, and date. Visual blue stays distinct from a claim that the same pigment was used.
Keep one thing. Change another. ↗
Choose a shared description and inspect the differences the catalogue can support.