Same. We admire the ocean for it's ability to be BOTH powerful and serene. Destructive and life giving. Anyone familiar with the ocean at all would know what type of wave we're viewing here. Dangerous things can still be beautiful, why else would we visit Lions in a zoo.
People are deceived by the bright colors and the tiny details. It does look serene in a glance. The painter is a genious. I guess the Midsommar horror movie applied similar tactics.
Even though I’ve never seen this piece with fishing boats included, it has never seemed peaceful and serene to me. Majestic. Powerful. Energetic. Vast.
What do you mean by "never seen this piece with fishing boats included”? The fishing boats were always in the print, they are not a late addition. Maybe you mean that you never noticed them before?
@@myriamickx7969 possibly I’ve not noticed them, but more likely I’ve only seen images of the wave alone. I tend to be pretty detail oriented and I think I would notice the boats.
@@myriamickx7969 The quality of the print’s reproduction may have cropped out or blurred the fishing boats. Or maybe those who reprinted the print, were able to not have to obtain copyright permission if the boats were missing, & just featured the wave.
I never saw serenity in this painting. The faces of the fishermen, even in their simplicity, just give me vibes of resignation. This is one of my (18-year-old) son's favorite works of art (we have it as a shower curtain and I bought him a lego kit of this print for Christmas).
@@ac583 "Painting" in this case is a generic term for the print -- take it easy, and please spend less time trying to shame people on a youtbue comment. sheesh! : p
I was blessed to see this print in person in Washington DC. I nearly had a heart attack on the sidewalk, panicking in front of a poster that let me know ALL of the Hokusai prints were there, including 3 extras!! My father, witnessing this ordeal brought me back to earth with, "Do you want to go inside?" The prints are SOOOOO TINY and all the little expressions on the faces are so detailed. Thank you for bringing back this memory ❤❤
I saw a similar exhibition years ago at the Royal Academy in London and it inspired me to go and live in Japan. The best art exhibition I have ever seen!
@pliktl Even with the debates about who owns what, experiences like yours are why museums must continue to exist. What small spark of inspiration will fuel the imagination of the next generation? I'm so glad your parents encouraged your passion.
They have one at the Harvard Art museum in Cambridge m but it’s not always on display. They occasionally loan it to the MFA in Boston, where I have seen it twice
I just always assumed it depicted a tsunami -never thought it was peaceful in the moment. Maybe if you look deeper and realize that while the people are going to have a rough time, Mt Fuji simply abides, you can make some statement about how the people of Japan may go through hardship but Japan itself will endure, but that's just digging for meaning.
I was actually taught this by my third grade teacher in hawaii. She was a Japanese Hawaiian and she said it depicted an entire invasion fleet from China being sunk by a series of tsunamis. Whether it was legend or an actual real event was never clear to me though.
I took Japanese I & Japanese II in high school & my teacher said this *depicted the change happening in Japanese society* but the artist simply did this by not only showing boatmen getting engulfed by the wave, but Mt. Fuji + the city of Edo (modern day Tokyo) as well 🌊
I've seen this countless times, and never noticed the boats or the sailors. Now that its been pointed out I can't not see them. Thank you. I love these videos
I've heard it said that the serenity of the painting is only felt by those who've only learned to read from left to right because the image ends in hope of survival. For those that can/only read right to left the image ends in the wave with the hope seemingly distant and unlikely.
To me, the construction of this painting/print shows that it must be read from right to left. Besides, Hokusai himself titled it "Under the Wave”, which implies the fishermen are all going to die. I think the "serenity” here only exists in the author’s mind. This being said, among the 36 views of Mount Fuji, some are quite serene. Take a look.
Omg! The constant moving because the artist's home became too unliveable. 😂 I love these little nuggets you throw into your videos. This one was fantastic!!
My dude I got some many questions did dude live super spartan spare bare life in like a hut type joint so after like one year dude's out? Or like whole ass house ran into the literal ground?
@emm_arr I see you're a clown that doesn't understand that it's up to the person that makes a claim to provide the evidence and proof to back that claim .🙄. What the hell is a "big wave"?, a famous surf spot 🤣. If you're referring to the Big Bang theory, it has lots of experience to be the leading theory at this time. You're obviously not up to this and will just get hammered 🤣.
TIL that the Great Wave has boats in it. I'm so embarrassed I never noticed them before! I love it even more now - it tells such an amazing story. Thank you for sharing the details with us!
I love this painting. Indeed it gave me comfort in a really challenging time in my life. Because, as you said, I felt like being in one of these boats, thrown up and down, not knowing if I would drown and how to come out of my misery. I just could hang on. What gave me consolation was Mount Fuji. It remembered me, that always there is a still space in us, even in the greatest waves. It may seem very little compared to the actual turbulences. But it's always there and in reality it's huge.
Your videos always make my day when they are released, and this one was no different! Thank you dearly for making these videos for us all to enjoy for free. It feels like such a luxury. I hope you have a wonderful day and week! :) EDIT: Though I must say that I never ever saw this painting as calm or serene, and I don't think I have met anyone who does (at least that I've talked to about it). The white tip of the waves - to me - looks like they are coming to life and are trying to grab both the fishermen and me as a viewer.
I agree with both your comments. I would like to look closely at copies in fabric etc to find out if the boats are included. I have always thought the wave had claws. but I didn't make the connection. I really do love your posts and wish you could make more.
You should add a note about "Prussian Blue" at 2:46, at the time when this picture was made in Japan, this color were known as "Berlin Blue" not the term "Prussian Blue" that we used today
Ive never gotten "calm and serene" from this piece. Ive always felt like, overwhelming power and the fury of nature. Its an indifferent force, but an overwhelming one. Like "Wanderer above a sea of fog"
The first time I ever ran into this piece was as cover art on an edition of Shipwrecks by Akira Yoshimura, so I always associated it as depicting boaters dying in the waves or possibly in a tsunami, since the wave depicted is so much bigger than the mountain. I've never heard anyone call this piece serene before this video. Of course, I also didn't know that this was part of a much longer series focusing on Mt. Fuji. If you're intended to view it through the lens of the mountain, whereby everything from waves to human life is temporary, I can see there's a bit of serenity to be had. It's along the lines of the, "I am the sky and all of life and emotion is just clouds" lesson from therapy. Unfortunately, I was really bad at that exercise, and I'm still focusing on the fishermen just trying to survive.
I never thought of that piece as serene, but that could just be because I grew up completely landlocked and anything more than a ripple gives me a certain amount of fear.
I mean, what's in this painting is practically a Killer Wave that is shown in a similar way as to 'something that could swallow even the greatest of mountains & spare no-one' I'd say your feeling of fear when it comes to the image is more than suitable
I'm a sea boy, and no, it's not a dry people thing, it's that this is just obvious and the video tried to gaslight the viewers into thinking that there's people assuming serenity.
This video certainly makes me appreciate the piece more. Though I never saw it as serene, I also never realized Mt. Fuji was in the back, and how serene *it* is. It does make me contemplate the crashing waves of life, and their ephemeral nature in the grand scheme of things.
I have this as a massive canvas in my living room between 6-7 feet wide, it’s been my favorite piece ever since the first time I learned about it way back in high school and then in art school I did a large project on the Views of Mt. Fuji collection for my painting class, I’ve always loved Japanese prints but these have always been special ❤ I saved up and it was the first piece I bought for my apartment walls 😊 The quote “All I have done before the age of 70 isn’t worth bothering with” has always been one of my favorite quotes from past artists, I just always found that so interesting of a statement. Pretty amazing to imagine how he saw his art over his lifetime
I’m in the minority here, but I agree with your perspective that the image seems serene at first. Something about the colors and composition. Yes, it’s a big turbulent wave, but it’s frozen in time in its majesty and beauty. If boats were not underneath, no one would be at risk and it would simply be a snapshot of nature. This video was great - I hadn’t know about Japan’s 200 years of isolationism before or how it ended. I also had NOT noticed the boats, even though I have a printed tile of this scene in my house, which I purchased in Tokyo last year. I learned a lot - thank you!
The detail in this block print is amazing! If you’ve ever been out in the ocean in a small fishing boat, you can understand the fear of the fishermen. Thank you.
🥰 Awesome again!! Thank You so much for all you do; your time and studies and information about these works of art is amazing and inspiring☺ Can't wait to see a notification for a new show every time you upload! Sending much love💖 your way from here on the East Coast in Nova Scotia ,Canada ❤🤍Keep em' coming !!!
Brilliant video. This has been among my favorite paintings since I was a child. Hokusai is a master…and that wave is clearly part of a storm. The composition is breathtaking. The waves have always seemed to me to have claws even as a little girl.
Woo hoo, finally. I was waiting for your next video. I always like your funny, but well researched analisys behind the art. I really missed your videos. You're doing always such a great job
I was curious to learn whether the wood block still exists (no 🙁) and came across a wonderful article that others might enjoy as well: “The Great Wave: Spot the Difference”; it’s on the British Museum’s website. The author has been searching out and documenting existing prints and attempting to put them on a timeline. One interesting factoid is that a woodblock might yield up 8,000 prints. Another is that the affordability of the prints sadly means that people didn’t necessarily take care of them or hang onto them.
@@atsukorichards1675 I could see that; kind of like grabbing whatever newspaper you have lying around to use as packing material, when maybe it has a story that would one day make that particular paper incredibly valuable
If you’re in Seattle or close, there is currently a show at the Seattle Art Museum with this print as well as others by the same artist, plus lots of other japanese art both classic and contemporary. I saw it last week, it’s a really amazing show.
I assume the older people of Japan would: The waves and winds (tropical storms) saved them from mongol invasions, twice I get what you mean, though- the way the wave towers over the fishing boats, dwarfing them and getting ready to engulf them It’s all very chaotic I *guess* it would also be serene because of the pretty colours Or if you view the wave the same way one would view a mountain- tall and wide and looming over you I think it’s more similar to how nature is in general, which can be really pretty and calm but also really dangerous
I bought a print of this piece because I always loved the striking boldness of the waves. It wasn’t until I hung it on my wall that I really noticed the menace, the clawed waves about to crash onto the desperate sailors below, with the distant hope of safe harbor in the form of Mt. Fuji in the background.
Someone once said that because the negative space creates the opposite wave (look at it upside down), it resembles a balanced, maybe serene, Yin & Yang. So the image is both violent and serene at the same time, which I think is one explanation for its allure. Excellent video!
Thank you for all these wonderful videos and your insight and analysis. Extremely impressive and interesting. Not to mention your colorful way of explaining the facts and situations with connection to each painting and all the particularities therein.. Highlighted by your most sweet irony and little jokes. The editing of all your videos is so inviting to see them all.. Please carry on with such remarkable in depth studies of famous paintings.. And your comments.
There is absolutely nothing calm and serene about this image. For the life of me I cannot see how anyone could possibly see this painting as calm and serene.
I've never seen serenity in this painting. The Old Man of the Sea is looming above them about to smash down on the helpless fragile humans just trying to survive. I know it under the title "The Trough of the Deep Sea Wave".
Thanks! it is a great piece , especially since its wood block, but yes he did the set on MT fuji as the center of his series of ocean and water, trees, but the GREAT WAVE to me is an actual tsunami scene after an earthquake , fishermens boats knowing they had no chance , thats just me, i am sure the artist experienced a TSUNAMI in his 90 years and this is his interpretation of that , beautiful ocean waves or oncoming destruction as in TOHOKU 2011 earthquake ?
Never found this painting peaceful. Having been on high even angry seas in a small boat it's terrifying I can't imagine how it would be in an open boat. I always felt it was death by angry nature.
I don’t recall ever seeing this, though I very likely have. When I opened the video and saw the waves, my first thought was that it looked like it had claws, and that seemed somewhat odd to me. And just as others on here, I did not see it as peaceful. When I read the comment from one viewer who saw the prints on display and exclaimed “They’re so TINY!”, it suddenly dawned on me. These weren’t ‘painted’ on the paper, they were printed. That meant Hokusai carved the relief of the scene and painted the areas he wanted to print onto the paper. He was not only an artist he was a woodcarver. Obviously, he loved that medium since he practiced his craft his entire life.
This is one of my favorite pieces of art. Though many people have said it’s terrifying because it’s a tsunami, I agree with you. This painting for whatever reason calmed me. Maybe it was the use of the Prussian blue or because I personally love the ocean, but being an ocean lover I loved your explanation at the end. Though this is terrifying, and there are days where we are like those fishermen in boats. Caught up in a tsunami like wave where things seem so out of our control, where we are swallowed up and only can face the reality that we at the end of the day are doomed to feel like or be destroyed by circumstances out of our control. But your explanation brought me even more peace at the end, because I never saw the mountain, that will always stand tall, observing that even these chaotic life changing moments will pass, we can heal, and we can too be like the mountains and not let the waves or tsunami’ of life swallow us whole. Even if it may seem impossible, terrifying, and disastrous, we as human beings are resilient like a mountain, and we can stand tall and stand to the test of hard and painful moments in life. I love this painting even more now, and yes as terrifying and even heartbreaking as it is, it brings me even more peace now, because it serves as a reminder of human resilience. And though these moments are painful, we have the strength of a mountain. Thank you for your great content 🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾
I can't imagine why anyone would think of this picture as "peaceful". Surely it's obvious that it's a *_storm_* at sea. I have often thought of it as an emblem of violent death, actually. Serene? Really?
Um, hello, @@Trevorjennings35. I have been safe from COVID-19 since about this time last year, when I was infected with a case which I was unfortunate enough to infect my fiancée with as I moved in with her. We spent the first two weeks of our cohabitation laid up in terrible distress. Since then, though, we have not been reinfected. I hope you have been safe. Um...why do you ask? BTW, as for "pretty", that isn't my picture, sorry. But what inspires your interest?
I love love love this painting! We have a huge version of it in our house. Had no idea of the history behind it, or that it was part of a whole series. It was so awesome to learn more aboit it, and I'm going to look at it from a whole new perspective. I never saw it as calm, more like energetic and powerful, the might of nature and how little people are in comparison. To know it also refers to Japan and their view towards the rest of the world was fascinating. Thanks for always teaching me something new! Looking forward to the next video!
The great wave depicted here much greater than the main subject, the Mt Fuji, give the feeling that nature can be beautiful and dangerous. This painting shows how harsh the sea, but it still feels majestic, magnificent and honorable. I love the ways you interpret this as the art that forays the wave of change in Japan society at that time.
I have a copy of this hanging in my hallway. I've always loved it, because of the color. I never noticed the men in the boats. I never noticed Mt. Fuji. I never noticed the claws of foam until I saw it up close during this video. To be fair, I am very near sighted and don't wear my glasses around the house. I will never be able to look at this picture without seeing every detail and analyzing the ideas you have put forth. I always get something out of your videos!
I think it's the color that gives the soothing vibe, amidst all the chaos depicted. If it's other color of blue, like the brighter ones, would have given a sense of overwhelming chaos, thus breaking the whole theme of the series.
I can't tell you how much I am enjoying this channel. I am grateful for your efforts and the work you put into it. I know nothing about artwork and this channel has been inspirational
I think the fact that this picture became ubiquitous is why most of us never have really looked at it! I never thought before about how it makes me feel! I would love to have a chance to look at the whole series. Is it in a book?
Great analysis. Frankly though, I don't see how anyone would view this painting as calming. Waves raging, raising higher than the view of (clearly) Fuji Mountain, swallowing boats with people visible in them, what's calming about that?
I have always been intrigued by this painting because it was so....different. i really liked the way Katsushika Hokusai had used the blue and the tiny details. thanks to you i have a much better understanding of this piece! thank you, i'd love to see more soon!🌊🌊🌊
I view it as serene. It's all consuming and wild. it can tear you apart from the things you have, than does it really matter. at the end the moment of happenning eventsand timelessnes of other aspects of life, like mount fuji, all is part of who we are, and part of our life. and realizing the vastness and how dynamic it is what gives it the serenity. It's till serene to me. Specially when i view this from the point of fuji.
I think this is the first time I’ve seen the whole painting. For all the thousands of times it’s been used most of the time all but that one huge wave is almost always cropped out.
The fact that I didn’t even notice the fishermen at first speaks to the immense presence the wave has over them. One of my favorite paintings (Obviously)
It's not a painting though. It's a woodblock print (ukiyo-e). The artist first makes an image, then they (or others) carve parts of the image into wood blocks. The different blocks are dipped into different colours of ink, then pressed onto paper.
everyone is concentrating on how the word “serene” was said in association with the work, but i’m more shaken by ‘The Dream of the Fisherman's Wife’ which i had never seen before and i kind of envy my younger self of about 10 minutes ago for living in blissful ignorance😭
Yep. When we saw that my husband looked in horror and said "wait, it's the same guy??" Guess he saw it before but never knew they had the same artist. I think his worldview shattered lol. Me, I had never seen it and wish to bleach that out 😂
I can't say I ever found this painting peaceful or calming, but I must admit I had never noticed the fishing boats/men. I have never seen a full size print but I have been aware of it for the last 50 years, so I think the moral of this story is to look more closely!
Cool video, but I have to be a party pooper: 4:51 You wrote "Kanazawa", not "Kanagawa". Ukiyo-e's "u" is pronounced "oo", as in "boot", not "you". Also, I never thought of this as a serene scene. Massive waves obviously very dangerous for the people in the boats.
Honestly because I never noticed the boats and I’m viewing it from the cliff side perspective - it always gave me a sense of relaxation. You can hear the waves without it moving
I've always been afraid of vast bodies of water, even more so with murky waters or with waves. So whoever thought that this piece is calming or serene, well, kudos to you. 😄 BTW, I have seen this many times everywhere but only now did I notice the boats. Maybe because most ones I've seen are just closely inspired modern copies. I just realized that I'm not very good at looking at art. Maybe that's why I enjoy this channel so much. It shows me things I overlook and explains things about the topic at hand. 😄
Can't believe someone tossed a painted bamboo door covering with that print on it into a burn pile...saved it, hung it up, but it was eventually obliterated prior to 2017.
Not a serene calming moment in this one of the 36. Basically,one can tragically assume these fishermen are doomed. And there in the distance,is Fuji. Is he looking on with empathy at this tragedy? Is he looking on with indifference to the tribulations of mortal men? Or is Fuji just there,eternal,as we humans come and go,in the blink of an eye compared to the eternal mountain? The claw like crest of the wave,it is like a tiger,it is aiming at the doomed boat,and also frames,intentionally,Fuji,as if Hokusai is asking the viewer for their thoughts,their interpretation of this event unfolding. The 36 views is a series showcasing Fuji watching us. Whether he is weeping,smiling laughing,or ignoring,it is an adress to the permanency of mountain versus mortality,and commands sublime appreciation for both.
“Serene” was never a word I equated with this painting but I always found it beautiful.
Same. We admire the ocean for it's ability to be BOTH powerful and serene. Destructive and life giving. Anyone familiar with the ocean at all would know what type of wave we're viewing here.
Dangerous things can still be beautiful, why else would we visit Lions in a zoo.
It is a woodblock print not a painting.
I always thought the depiction was of a storm at sea, even though the sky doesn't reflect this. I never found it to be serene or calm.
@@TinaP1234shut up and stop being asinine, block prints are a type of painting
@@Eat_shit--die_mad Please read en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woodblock_printing#:~:text=Woodblock%20printing%20or%20block%20printing,on%20textiles%20and%20later%20paper.
I never saw this as peaceful. I always saw the boatmen in extreme danger.
I noticed the scared fishermen when I was very young
Yeah, when I was younger I always thought it looked like a tidal wave, something I later learned is a constant threat to Japan.
Me too. I have always loved how I feel when I see this painting.
The video poster clearly doesn't understand art
Does anyone look at this and see serene?
Even without fishermen in danger, that's not a "serene" sea
Nope it certainly isn’t.
People are deceived by the bright colors and the tiny details. It does look serene in a glance. The painter is a genious. I guess the Midsommar horror movie applied similar tactics.
True but many people find crashing waves very serene but you have to look closer and see that there are people in peril.
My thoughts exactly. I liked it for the beautiful depiction of the turbulent sea.
Yeah I really didn't understand that part of the video "^^ there is nothing serene about the scene at first glance
Even though I’ve never seen this piece with fishing boats included, it has never seemed peaceful and serene to me. Majestic. Powerful. Energetic. Vast.
What do you mean by "never seen this piece with fishing boats included”? The fishing boats were always in the print, they are not a late addition. Maybe you mean that you never noticed them before?
@@myriamickx7969 Maybe they have only seen copies of the painting when it's been cropped
@@myriamickx7969 possibly I’ve not noticed them, but more likely I’ve only seen images of the wave alone. I tend to be pretty detail oriented and I think I would notice the boats.
I had a circular mousepad that had the boats completely cropped out.
@@myriamickx7969 The quality of the print’s reproduction may have cropped out or blurred the fishing boats. Or maybe those who reprinted the print, were able to not have to obtain copyright permission if the boats were missing, & just featured the wave.
I never saw serenity in this painting. The faces of the fishermen, even in their simplicity, just give me vibes of resignation. This is one of my (18-year-old) son's favorite works of art (we have it as a shower curtain and I bought him a lego kit of this print for Christmas).
Amen ... It just roars threat... never serenity.
There was a large Lego version on display at the Seattle Museum of Art recently as part of a Hokusai exhibit recently.
@@ac583 "Painting" in this case is a generic term for the print -- take it easy, and please spend less time trying to shame people on a youtbue comment. sheesh! : p
@@jamesbarrett9466 That's something I would like to see! I am glad his work is still appreciated today, in any form.
The Lego sets available these days are great, in a way better than the ones i had growing up, and make me wish I was 12 again. 😅
I was blessed to see this print in person in Washington DC. I nearly had a heart attack on the sidewalk, panicking in front of a poster that let me know ALL of the Hokusai prints were there, including 3 extras!! My father, witnessing this ordeal brought me back to earth with, "Do you want to go inside?"
The prints are SOOOOO TINY and all the little expressions on the faces are so detailed.
Thank you for bringing back this memory ❤❤
I saw a similar exhibition years ago at the Royal Academy in London and it inspired me to go and live in Japan. The best art exhibition I have ever seen!
@@fredneecher1746 Wow! That was an impactful exhibit! Awesome that you moved to Japan!
@pliktl Even with the debates about who owns what, experiences like yours are why museums must continue to exist. What small spark of inspiration will fuel the imagination of the next generation? I'm so glad your parents encouraged your passion.
They have one at the Harvard Art museum in Cambridge m but it’s not always on display. They occasionally loan it to the MFA in Boston, where I have seen it twice
So glad you told me how tiny these prints are, I was imagining them much larger.
I just always assumed it depicted a tsunami -never thought it was peaceful in the moment. Maybe if you look deeper and realize that while the people are going to have a rough time, Mt Fuji simply abides, you can make some statement about how the people of Japan may go through hardship but Japan itself will endure, but that's just digging for meaning.
I thought it referenced the Japanese legend of the great wave that defeated the Mongol invasion.
Not digging at all; the fact that the series of prints focuses on Fuji-san lends credence to your theory.
I was actually taught this by my third grade teacher in hawaii. She was a Japanese Hawaiian and she said it depicted an entire invasion fleet from China being sunk by a series of tsunamis. Whether it was legend or an actual real event was never clear to me though.
I took Japanese I & Japanese II in high school & my teacher said this *depicted the change happening in Japanese society* but the artist simply did this by not only showing boatmen getting engulfed by the wave, but Mt. Fuji + the city of Edo (modern day Tokyo) as well 🌊
I've seen this countless times, and never noticed the boats or the sailors. Now that its been pointed out I can't not see them. Thank you. I love these videos
I've heard it said that the serenity of the painting is only felt by those who've only learned to read from left to right because the image ends in hope of survival. For those that can/only read right to left the image ends in the wave with the hope seemingly distant and unlikely.
To me, the construction of this painting/print shows that it must be read from right to left. Besides, Hokusai himself titled it "Under the Wave”, which implies the fishermen are all going to die. I think the "serenity” here only exists in the author’s mind.
This being said, among the 36 views of Mount Fuji, some are quite serene. Take a look.
Interesting because Japanese is read right to left.
@@geraldmartin7703 During Hokusai's time it was right to left, but it's been left to right for well over a century now.
There's serenity in the balance and in Mt. Fuji, but the sea is obviously not serene.
@alukuhito
You're right, it had escaped me.
One of my favourite pieces! Thank you so much for your interpretation of it - made my day. 😊
Thank you, Dave! Your comments always make my day!
2nd
Omg! The constant moving because the artist's home became too unliveable. 😂 I love these little nuggets you throw into your videos. This one was fantastic!!
It seems many a great artist was a bit on the inane side. Moving to avoid cleaning your house is a bit eccentric.
Well he made it to 90 moving many times, so it worked for him...
My dude I got some many questions did dude live super spartan spare bare life in like a hut type joint so after like one year dude's out? Or like whole ass house ran into the literal ground?
There's a misconception at the beginning of this video: this work of art has never been "calm".
So you know how everyone who sees the painting feels when they see it? 🙄 It's beyond idiotic to claim it's never been seen that way.
maybe shes puffin a big j while viewing it
@@Jacob-ed1bl So big wave = calm?
It's beyond idiotic to claim big waves are calm.
Do you see what I did there?!
@emm_arr I see you're a clown that doesn't understand that it's up to the person that makes a claim to provide the evidence and proof to back that claim .🙄. What the hell is a "big wave"?, a famous surf spot 🤣. If you're referring to the Big Bang theory, it has lots of experience to be the leading theory at this time. You're obviously not up to this and will just get hammered 🤣.
@@emm_arr you didn't do anything tho. The person you replied never claimed that the waves are calm
TIL that the Great Wave has boats in it. I'm so embarrassed I never noticed them before! I love it even more now - it tells such an amazing story. Thank you for sharing the details with us!
Same here my guy. Never noticed the people til this video.
I love this painting. Indeed it gave me comfort in a really challenging time in my life. Because, as you said, I felt like being in one of these boats, thrown up and down, not knowing if I would drown and how to come out of my misery. I just could hang on. What gave me consolation was Mount Fuji. It remembered me, that always there is a still space in us, even in the greatest waves. It may seem very little compared to the actual turbulences. But it's always there and in reality it's huge.
Your videos always make my day when they are released, and this one was no different! Thank you dearly for making these videos for us all to enjoy for free. It feels like such a luxury. I hope you have a wonderful day and week! :)
EDIT: Though I must say that I never ever saw this painting as calm or serene, and I don't think I have met anyone who does (at least that I've talked to about it). The white tip of the waves - to me - looks like they are coming to life and are trying to grab both the fishermen and me as a viewer.
I agree with both your comments. I would like to look closely at copies in fabric etc to find out if the boats are included. I have always thought the wave had claws. but I didn't make the connection. I really do love your posts and wish you could make more.
I have never thought of this print as calm and serene...your title made me wonder how it could be MORE disturbing than I thought
100%! I love this work and was thinking, what have I missed?! Sadly, nothing. Still love the piece though.
You should add a note about "Prussian Blue" at 2:46, at the time when this picture was made in Japan, this color were known as "Berlin Blue" not the term "Prussian Blue" that we used today
Well, Berlin is in Prussia....
@@panatypical I know, but typically Prussian was later popular, before that Berlin Blue was the name that Japanese know for this color
Can you list a source? I can't seem to find an article talking about it. Thanks :D
In Japanese, this colour is called ベレンス (Berensu).
Most sources I've read call it Prussian Blue. It came to Japan before 1800
Ive never gotten "calm and serene" from this piece. Ive always felt like, overwhelming power and the fury of nature. Its an indifferent force, but an overwhelming one. Like "Wanderer above a sea of fog"
I'm having lunch at the museum currently showing the Hokusai exhibit, just watched your video,..can't wait to go upstairs and see this iconic work!
The first time I ever ran into this piece was as cover art on an edition of Shipwrecks by Akira Yoshimura, so I always associated it as depicting boaters dying in the waves or possibly in a tsunami, since the wave depicted is so much bigger than the mountain. I've never heard anyone call this piece serene before this video.
Of course, I also didn't know that this was part of a much longer series focusing on Mt. Fuji. If you're intended to view it through the lens of the mountain, whereby everything from waves to human life is temporary, I can see there's a bit of serenity to be had. It's along the lines of the, "I am the sky and all of life and emotion is just clouds" lesson from therapy. Unfortunately, I was really bad at that exercise, and I'm still focusing on the fishermen just trying to survive.
I never thought of that piece as serene, but that could just be because I grew up completely landlocked and anything more than a ripple gives me a certain amount of fear.
I mean, what's in this painting is practically a Killer Wave that is shown in a similar way as to 'something that could swallow even the greatest of mountains & spare no-one'
I'd say your feeling of fear when it comes to the image is more than suitable
I'm a sea boy, and no, it's not a dry people thing, it's that this is just obvious and the video tried to gaslight the viewers into thinking that there's people assuming serenity.
This video certainly makes me appreciate the piece more. Though I never saw it as serene, I also never realized Mt. Fuji was in the back, and how serene *it* is. It does make me contemplate the crashing waves of life, and their ephemeral nature in the grand scheme of things.
I have this as a massive canvas in my living room between 6-7 feet wide, it’s been my favorite piece ever since the first time I learned about it way back in high school and then in art school I did a large project on the Views of Mt. Fuji collection for my painting class, I’ve always loved Japanese prints but these have always been special ❤ I saved up and it was the first piece I bought for my apartment walls 😊 The quote “All I have done before the age of 70 isn’t worth bothering with” has always been one of my favorite quotes from past artists, I just always found that so interesting of a statement. Pretty amazing to imagine how he saw his art over his lifetime
I’m in the minority here, but I agree with your perspective that the image seems serene at first. Something about the colors and composition. Yes, it’s a big turbulent wave, but it’s frozen in time in its majesty and beauty. If boats were not underneath, no one would be at risk and it would simply be a snapshot of nature. This video was great - I hadn’t know about Japan’s 200 years of isolationism before or how it ended. I also had NOT noticed the boats, even though I have a printed tile of this scene in my house, which I purchased in Tokyo last year. I learned a lot - thank you!
The detail in this block print is amazing! If you’ve ever been out in the ocean in a small fishing boat, you can understand the fear of the fishermen. Thank you.
Thanks! So interesting 😊❤
Thank you so much for supporting the channel!
🥰 Awesome again!! Thank You so much for all you do; your time and studies and information about these works of art is amazing and inspiring☺ Can't wait to see a notification for a new show every time you upload! Sending much love💖 your way from here on the East Coast in Nova Scotia ,Canada ❤🤍Keep em' coming !!!
Thank you for saying this!
Brilliant video. This has been among my favorite paintings since I was a child. Hokusai is a master…and that wave is clearly part of a storm. The composition is breathtaking. The waves have always seemed to me to have claws even as a little girl.
I discovered today that there are people in the painting, I have only seen the wave and nothing else, not even the mount Fuji
Woo hoo, finally. I was waiting for your next video. I always like your funny, but well researched analisys behind the art. I really missed your videos. You're doing always such a great job
I was curious to learn whether the wood block still exists (no 🙁) and came across a wonderful article that others might enjoy as well: “The Great Wave: Spot the Difference”; it’s on the British Museum’s website. The author has been searching out and documenting existing prints and attempting to put them on a timeline. One interesting factoid is that a woodblock might yield up 8,000 prints. Another is that the affordability of the prints sadly means that people didn’t necessarily take care of them or hang onto them.
I heard that some wood block prints were used as a wrappings for ceramics when they brought them out of Japan to Europe.
@@atsukorichards1675 I could see that; kind of like grabbing whatever newspaper you have lying around to use as packing material, when maybe it has a story that would one day make that particular paper incredibly valuable
🌊
I swear your videos are always so amazing. Great Job!
So excited to see you put out another video! Thank you!
You're welcome. Thanks for watching!
If you’re in Seattle or close, there is currently a show at the Seattle Art Museum with this print as well as others by the same artist, plus lots of other japanese art both classic and contemporary. I saw it last week, it’s a really amazing show.
So jealous, i live too far away. 😢 glad the exhibition was good for you. :)
Im sorry who calls this wave "calm and serene"?
I assume the older people of Japan would:
The waves and winds (tropical storms) saved them from mongol invasions, twice
I get what you mean, though- the way the wave towers over the fishing boats, dwarfing them and getting ready to engulf them
It’s all very chaotic
I *guess* it would also be serene because of the pretty colours
Or if you view the wave the same way one would view a mountain- tall and wide and looming over you
I think it’s more similar to how nature is in general, which can be really pretty and calm but also really dangerous
I'd say that was stated just for plot's sake) To inject a n apparent contradiction (which have never existed))
I did
@@МихайлоСєльський well said
I didn't mean the artwork itself y'all. I love this piece Im talking guys in the boat POV
I bought a print of this piece because I always loved the striking boldness of the waves. It wasn’t until I hung it on my wall that I really noticed the menace, the clawed waves about to crash onto the desperate sailors below, with the distant hope of safe harbor in the form of Mt. Fuji in the background.
Same
The menace of course, was the "west" encroaching like a tsunami. They were afraid of the change.
Someone once said that because the negative space creates the opposite wave (look at it upside down), it resembles a balanced, maybe serene, Yin & Yang. So the image is both violent and serene at the same time, which I think is one explanation for its allure.
Excellent video!
You never fail to make me love my favorite paintings even more than I already do.
I always learn something new with your videos! I just love your analysis of art pieces. "Beautiful chaos" was a great way to sum it up. ❤
Love your explanation and interpretation. Thank you for your videos.
Thanks!
Thank you so much for supporting the channel!
I've never thought this painting is serene. It's flipping scary.
Thank you for all these wonderful videos and your insight and analysis. Extremely impressive and interesting. Not to mention your colorful way of explaining the facts and situations with connection to each painting and all the particularities therein.. Highlighted by your most sweet irony and little jokes. The editing of all your videos is so inviting to see them all.. Please carry on with such remarkable in depth studies of famous paintings.. And your comments.
There is absolutely nothing calm and serene about this image. For the life of me I cannot see how anyone could possibly see this painting as calm and serene.
Its not serene, Its full of energy and movement. That's why I love it.
I've never seen serenity in this painting. The Old Man of the Sea is looming above them about to smash down on the helpless fragile humans just trying to survive. I know it under the title "The Trough of the Deep Sea Wave".
Thank you for your detailed discussions of paintings. I really enjoy your channel and getting close up views of the famous paintings.
This was a great video. I never knew the history of this painting. Thank you for educating me about it.
Thanks! it is a great piece , especially since its wood block, but yes he did the set on MT fuji as the center of his series of ocean and water, trees, but the GREAT WAVE to me is an actual tsunami scene after an earthquake , fishermens boats knowing they had no chance , thats just me, i am sure the artist experienced a TSUNAMI in his 90 years and this is his interpretation of that , beautiful ocean waves or oncoming destruction as in TOHOKU 2011 earthquake ?
I can see how you could see that! Thank you for supporting the channel!
Never found this painting peaceful. Having been on high even angry seas in a small boat it's terrifying I can't imagine how it would be in an open boat. I always felt it was death by angry nature.
I don’t recall ever seeing this, though I very likely have. When I opened the video and saw the waves, my first thought was that it looked like it had claws, and that seemed somewhat odd to me. And just as others on here, I did not see it as peaceful. When I read the comment from one viewer who saw the prints on display and exclaimed “They’re so TINY!”, it suddenly dawned on me. These weren’t ‘painted’ on the paper, they were printed. That meant Hokusai carved the relief of the scene and painted the areas he wanted to print onto the paper. He was not only an artist he was a woodcarver. Obviously, he loved that medium since he practiced his craft his entire life.
Hello Debra, how are you doing today, hope you’re fine and safe from the COVID-19 virus??
This is my favorite UA-cam channel
Thank you, thank you!
@@Art_Deco people like you are so necessary in a society
This is one of my favorite pieces of art. Though many people have said it’s terrifying because it’s a tsunami, I agree with you. This painting for whatever reason calmed me. Maybe it was the use of the Prussian blue or because I personally love the ocean, but being an ocean lover I loved your explanation at the end. Though this is terrifying, and there are days where we are like those fishermen in boats. Caught up in a tsunami like wave where things seem so out of our control, where we are swallowed up and only can face the reality that we at the end of the day are doomed to feel like or be destroyed by circumstances out of our control. But your explanation brought me even more peace at the end, because I never saw the mountain, that will always stand tall, observing that even these chaotic life changing moments will pass, we can heal, and we can too be like the mountains and not let the waves or tsunami’ of life swallow us whole. Even if it may seem impossible, terrifying, and disastrous, we as human beings are resilient like a mountain, and we can stand tall and stand to the test of hard and painful moments in life. I love this painting even more now, and yes as terrifying and even heartbreaking as it is, it brings me even more peace now, because it serves as a reminder of human resilience. And though these moments are painful, we have the strength of a mountain. Thank you for your great content 🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾
The narrator assumes we look at the wave as serene. After that, I held the rest of her assertions in question.
Right. I had the same reaction. I watched the whole video but couldn’t take it seriously. I don’t think I’ll watch any more videos from this channel.
Hello Melanie, how are you doing today, hope you’re fine and safe from the COVID-19 virus??
Thank you for your interesting, introspective & 'mind opening' perspective.
Hello Glynis, how are you doing today, hope you’re fine and safe from the COVID-19 virus??
Loved this video! Would you ever consider doing a video of the entire series of Hokusai's views of Fuji?
I’ve never heard anyone describe this painting as calm and serene. More like exciting and cool.
Learned so much from your narration! Thank you 💜🌊
I can't imagine why anyone would think of this picture as "peaceful". Surely it's obvious that it's a *_storm_* at sea.
I have often thought of it as an emblem of violent death, actually.
Serene?
Really?
Um, hello, @@Trevorjennings35. I have been safe from COVID-19 since about this time last year, when I was infected with a case which I was unfortunate enough to infect my fiancée with as I moved in with her. We spent the first two weeks of our cohabitation laid up in terrible distress. Since then, though, we have not been reinfected.
I hope you have been safe.
Um...why do you ask?
BTW, as for "pretty", that isn't my picture, sorry.
But what inspires your interest?
I love love love this painting! We have a huge version of it in our house. Had no idea of the history behind it, or that it was part of a whole series. It was so awesome to learn more aboit it, and I'm going to look at it from a whole new perspective.
I never saw it as calm, more like energetic and powerful, the might of nature and how little people are in comparison. To know it also refers to Japan and their view towards the rest of the world was fascinating.
Thanks for always teaching me something new! Looking forward to the next video!
Love this painting! I have got a print of it in my living room.
The great wave depicted here much greater than the main subject, the Mt Fuji, give the feeling that nature can be beautiful and dangerous. This painting shows how harsh the sea, but it still feels majestic, magnificent and honorable. I love the ways you interpret this as the art that forays the wave of change in Japan society at that time.
I have a copy of this hanging in my hallway. I've always loved it, because of the color. I never noticed the men in the boats. I never noticed Mt. Fuji. I never noticed the claws of foam until I saw it up close during this video. To be fair, I am very near sighted and don't wear my glasses around the house. I will never be able to look at this picture without seeing every detail and analyzing the ideas you have put forth. I always get something out of your videos!
Interesting insights.
One of my favorite artworks.
Great job on this vid!
Even without the men, it seems powerful and aggressive, rather than peaceful to me, and always has-
I’m always so pleased when I see a new video from you ❤
Hello Cilla, how are you doing today, hope you’re fine and safe from the COVID-19 virus??
I love the way you teach us about the paintings. It's informative and entertaining.
Delightfully timely, since I’m working on a quilt interpretation of this right now!
I love that he just moved house every time his place got too messy🤣🤭
I think it's the color that gives the soothing vibe, amidst all the chaos depicted. If it's other color of blue, like the brighter ones, would have given a sense of overwhelming chaos, thus breaking the whole theme of the series.
I’m terrified of the ocean, so this has always been an image about fear for me. And yet I’ve never noticed the fisherman.
I can't tell you how much I am enjoying this channel. I am grateful for your efforts and the work you put into it. I know nothing about artwork and this channel has been inspirational
Omg, I just got so excited to see one more video of yours. ❤❤🎉🎉
I think the fact that this picture became ubiquitous is why most of us never have really looked at it! I never thought before about how it makes me feel! I would love to have a chance to look at the whole series. Is it in a book?
All of it is in Wikipedia.
Who ever thought that was a serene scene ? Thank you all the same for sharing your knowledge about art, always a pleasure 🙏
Great analysis. Frankly though, I don't see how anyone would view this painting as calming. Waves raging, raising higher than the view of (clearly) Fuji Mountain, swallowing boats with people visible in them, what's calming about that?
Now I really want a print of this painting! Great video!!
I have always been intrigued by this painting because it was so....different. i really liked the way Katsushika Hokusai had used the blue and the tiny details. thanks to you i have a much better understanding of this piece! thank you, i'd love to see more soon!🌊🌊🌊
I view it as serene. It's all consuming and wild. it can tear you apart from the things you have, than does it really matter. at the end the moment of happenning eventsand timelessnes of other aspects of life, like mount fuji, all is part of who we are, and part of our life. and realizing the vastness and how dynamic it is what gives it the serenity. It's till serene to me. Specially when i view this from the point of fuji.
I never knew any of that story/history. Thanks for the enlightenment
I think this is the first time I’ve seen the whole painting. For all the thousands of times it’s been used most of the time all but that one huge wave is almost always cropped out.
The fact that I didn’t even notice the fishermen at first speaks to the immense presence the wave has over them.
One of my favorite paintings (Obviously)
Love your videos, love your perspective.Thanks for all the giggles, thanks for sharing 🕊️
this is my favorite old Japanese paintings! I never saw it as peaceful though, I saw it as fierce and mighty.
It's not a painting though. It's a woodblock print (ukiyo-e). The artist first makes an image, then they (or others) carve parts of the image into wood blocks. The different blocks are dipped into different colours of ink, then pressed onto paper.
Ironically while there are other notable pieces in the series, this wave ruthlessly overwhelms and overshadows those.
Bravo, thank you for showing the REAL paint♥
No one ever thought this was a serene sea scape. It clearly wasn't the intent of the artist.
The branching out
of the tree of your work
takes root in the nuances
of the intricacies of the past
So many reproductions of this work edit out the boatmen and just show the wave. I had quite forgotten they were there. Thanks for the video. 🌊
everyone is concentrating on how the word “serene” was said in association with the work, but i’m more shaken by ‘The Dream of the Fisherman's Wife’ which i had never seen before and i kind of envy my younger self of about 10 minutes ago for living in blissful ignorance😭
Yep. When we saw that my husband looked in horror and said "wait, it's the same guy??" Guess he saw it before but never knew they had the same artist. I think his worldview shattered lol. Me, I had never seen it and wish to bleach that out 😂
I can’t believe tentacle prn has been around for that long…
You win the award for most soothing voice.
I can't say I ever found this painting peaceful or calming, but I must admit I had never noticed the fishing boats/men. I have never seen a full size print but I have been aware of it for the last 50 years, so I think the moral of this story is to look more closely!
Thank you so much for all the hard work you put into these videos! I absolutely love learning about these paintings! :)
Cool video, but I have to be a party pooper: 4:51 You wrote "Kanazawa", not "Kanagawa". Ukiyo-e's "u" is pronounced "oo", as in "boot", not "you". Also, I never thought of this as a serene scene. Massive waves obviously very dangerous for the people in the boats.
When I lived in Japan in the late 1990s I was told the great wave depicts the destruction of the Korean invasion by a tsunami.
I have NEVER seen this as serene lol
Honestly because I never noticed the boats and I’m viewing it from the cliff side perspective - it always gave me a sense of relaxation. You can hear the waves without it moving
I've always been afraid of vast bodies of water, even more so with murky waters or with waves. So whoever thought that this piece is calming or serene, well, kudos to you. 😄
BTW, I have seen this many times everywhere but only now did I notice the boats. Maybe because most ones I've seen are just closely inspired modern copies.
I just realized that I'm not very good at looking at art. Maybe that's why I enjoy this channel so much. It shows me things I overlook and explains things about the topic at hand. 😄
Can't believe someone tossed a painted bamboo door covering with that print on it into a burn pile...saved it, hung it up, but it was eventually obliterated prior to 2017.
Hello Deb, how are you doing today, hope you’re fine and safe from the COVID-19 virus??
Not a serene calming moment in this one of the 36.
Basically,one can tragically assume these fishermen are doomed.
And there in the distance,is Fuji.
Is he looking on with empathy at this tragedy?
Is he looking on with indifference to the tribulations of mortal men?
Or is Fuji just there,eternal,as we humans come and go,in the blink of an eye compared to the eternal mountain?
The claw like crest of the wave,it is like a tiger,it is aiming at the doomed boat,and also frames,intentionally,Fuji,as if Hokusai is asking the viewer for their thoughts,their interpretation of this event unfolding.
The 36 views is a series showcasing Fuji watching us.
Whether he is weeping,smiling laughing,or ignoring,it is an adress to the permanency of mountain versus mortality,and commands sublime appreciation for both.