Riding 'The Great Wave': Hokusai's Print Breaks Records

It may be the most recognisable image in all of art: a towering blue wave, its claw-like crest about to crash over tiny boats, with Mount Fuji calm in the distance. In March 2021, a fine early impression of Hokusai's woodblock print sold at Christie's for $2.76 million.

Created around 1831, 'Under the Wave off Kanagawa' was printed in the thousands, yet superb early impressions are rare and precious. The price set a record for the Japanese master.

From phone emojis to surfboards, Hokusai's wave has rolled across the globe. Two centuries on, it remains the perfect marriage of Japanese tradition and universal power.

Image: “Tsunami by hokusai 19th century” — Katsushika Hokusai, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.