hokusai under the great wave of kanagawa

Question 1

mount fuji context

Answer 1

national icon, people were religiously devoted to it

said to become the focus of ‘fuji cults’

fuji cults would go on pilgrammages up it- origional purchasers of print made pilgramme=gest

Question 2

what did mount fuji mean to Hokusai

Answer 2

became a symbol of longevity of age to him

Question 3

isolationist japan context

Answer 3

had been closed to foreign travel since 1630s

1720 ban lifted on importing chinese translations of european books and certain trade

Question 4

materials and techniques

Answer 4

-prussian blue pigment used (shows hokusais readiness to use eurpoean ideas)

woodblock print, thousands of prints made (was prefered method of art in japan in 1800s)

Question 5

subject matter

Answer 5

view of mount fuji (part of a series of colour prints of fuji by Hokusai)

huge wave over 3 small skiffs and crouching oarsman in seascape

looks back on Japan

plunging breaker wave is repeated by a small cresting wave below which mirrors mount fuji sillouhete

nature much larger than man

Question 6

what were the oarsmen doing

Answer 6

headed out to sea to meet fishing fleet

Question 7

what type of wave is shown

Answer 7

a ‘plunging breaker’

Question 8

how is the sillouhete of Mount Fuji mirrored

Answer 8

mirrored by plunging breaker wave and smaller cresting wave

Question 9

how is the sea given animalistic intent

Answer 9

claw like foaming evokes violent movement and gives sea animalistic intent

Question 10

how do we get a sense of the sublime

Answer 10

natures scale in much larger and its violence is accentuated by foaming claws

water is given dominance over earth as fuji is dwarfed

Question 11

how does hokusai add a comical element

Answer 11

spray of wave looks like snow falling on mountain

Question 12

space and depth

Answer 12

-low horizon line links back to europpean art

-little mid ground

Question 13

viewpoint

Answer 13

no footing as a viewer, suggests viewer is also in a boat and in danger emphasising the vunerability of humanity

Question 14

composition

Answer 14

asymmetrical- huge wave creates imbalance on other side

wave curves over central space emphasising Mount Fuji which is echoed by prow of boats showung earths dominance over man

Question 15

how is earths dominance over man shown

Answer 15

foaming claws

wave curves over crouching humans

viwer suggestively also in a boat

earth is smaller than wave

Question 16

style

Answer 16

extreme stylisation and graphic quality

prominent use of line emphasised by woodblock technique

Question 17

use of colour

Answer 17

prussian blue- rare and european adding status to wave

repetition of blue and white creates harmony

blue dominantes colour of oarsmen showing fragility