Katsushika Hokusai\u2019s much celebrated series, Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku sanj\u00fbrokkei), was begun in 1830, when the artist was 70 years old. This tour-de-force series established the popularity of landscape prints, which continues to this day. Perhaps most striking about the series is Hokusai\u2019s copious use of the newly affordable Berlin blue pigment, featured in many of the compositions in the color for the sky and water. Mount Fuji is the protagonist in each scene, viewed from afar or up close, during various weather conditions and seasons, and from all directions.<\/p>\n
The most famous image from the set is the "Great Wave" (Kanagawa oki nami ura), in which a diminutive Mount Fuji can be seen in the distance under the crest of a giant wave. The three impressions of Hokusai\u2019s Great Wave in the Art Institute are all later impressions than the first state of the design.<\/p>\n","short_description":null,"dimensions":"25.4 \u00d7 37.6 cm (10 \u00d7 14 3\/4 in.)","dimensions_detail":[{"depth":null,"width":37,"height":25,"diameter":null,"clarification":null}],"medium_display":"Color woodblock print; oban","inscriptions":"Signature: Hokusai aratame Iitsu fude\nPublisher: Nishimura-ya Yohachi","credit_line":"Clarence Buckingham Collection","catalogue_display":null,"publication_history":"James Cuno, The Art Institute of Chicago: The Essential Guide, rev. ed. (Art Institute of Chicago, 2009) p. 100.\n\nJames N. Wood, The Art Institute of Chicago: The Essential Guide, rev. ed. (Art Institute of Chicago, 2003), p. 86.\n\nJim Ulak, Japanese Prints (Art Institute of Chicago, 1995), p. 268.\n\nUkiyo-e Taikei (Tokyo, 1975), vol. 8, 29; XIII, I.\n\nMatthi Forrer, Hokusai (Royal Academy of Arts, London 1988), p. 264.\n\nRichard Lane, Hokusai: Life and Work (London, 1989), pp. 189, 192.","exhibition_history":null,"provenance_text":"Yamanaka & Company, New York; sold to Clarence Buckingham (1854\u20131913), Chicago, Dec. 1905; by descent to his sisters Lucy Maud Buckingham (1870\u20131920) and Kate Sturges Buckingham (1858\u20131937), Chicago, 1913; given to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1925.","edition":null,"publishing_verification_level":"Web Cataloged","internal_department_id":8,"fiscal_year":null,"fiscal_year_deaccession":null,"is_public_domain":true,"is_zoomable":true,"max_zoom_window_size":-1,"copyright_notice":null,"has_multimedia_resources":false,"has_educational_resources":false,"has_advanced_imaging":false,"colorfulness":22.3786,"color":{"h":235,"l":50,"s":47,"percentage":0.0004104635364717375,"population":2},"latitude":null,"longitude":null,"latlon":null,"is_on_view":false,"on_loan_display":null,"gallery_title":null,"gallery_id":null,"nomisma_id":null,"artwork_type_title":"Print","artwork_type_id":18,"department_title":"Arts of Asia","department_id":"PC-7","artist_id":31492,"artist_title":"Katsushika Hokusai","alt_artist_ids":[],"artist_ids":[31492],"artist_titles":["Katsushika Hokusai"],"category_ids":["PC-7","PC-831","PC-837"],"category_titles":["Arts of Asia","Essentials","Arts of Asia 100"],"term_titles":["woodblock print","waves","wood blocks (printing blocks)","printing","Japanese (culture or style)","print","asian art","Mount Fuji","water","storms","mountains","sailing","ships","19th century","wood engraving (process)"],"style_id":"TM-13407","style_title":"Japanese (culture or style)","alt_style_ids":["TM-13203"],"style_ids":["TM-13407","TM-13203"],"style_titles":["Japanese (culture or style)","19th century"],"classification_id":"TM-402","classification_title":"woodblock print","alt_classification_ids":["TM-17","TM-26"],"classification_ids":["TM-402","TM-17","TM-26"],"classification_titles":["woodblock print","print","asian art"],"subject_id":"TM-11233","alt_subject_ids":["TM-12352","TM-8681","TM-12353","TM-12351","TM-12236","TM-12235"],"subject_ids":["TM-11233","TM-12352","TM-8681","TM-12353","TM-12351","TM-12236","TM-12235"],"subject_titles":["waves","Mount Fuji","water","storms","mountains","sailing","ships"],"material_id":"TM-13385","alt_material_ids":[],"material_ids":["TM-13385"],"material_titles":["wood blocks (printing blocks)"],"technique_id":"TM-3861","alt_technique_ids":["TM-3876"],"technique_ids":["TM-3861","TM-3876"],"technique_titles":["printing","wood engraving (process)"],"theme_titles":["Essentials","Arts of Asia 100"],"image_id":"b3974542-b9b4-7568-fc4b-966738f61d78","alt_image_ids":[],"document_ids":[],"sound_ids":[],"video_ids":[],"text_ids":[],"section_ids":[],"section_titles":[],"site_ids":[],"suggest_autocomplete_all":[{"input":["1925.3245"],"contexts":{"groupings":["accession"]}},{"input":["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 sanj\u016brokkei)\""],"weight":146434,"contexts":{"groupings":["title"]}}],"source_updated_at":"2026-06-17T09:53:49-05:00","updated_at":"2026-08-25T23:27:27-05:00","timestamp":"2026-09-01T21:40:37-05:00"},"info":{"license_text":"The `description` field in this response is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Generic License (CC-By) and the Terms and Conditions of artic.edu. All other data in this response is licensed under a Creative Commons Zero (CC0) 1.0 designation and the Terms and Conditions of artic.edu.","license_links":["https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/publicdomain\/zero\/1.0\/","https:\/\/www.artic.edu\/terms"],"version":"1.15"},"config":{"iiif_url":"https:\/\/www.artic.edu\/iiif\/2","website_url":"http:\/\/www.artic.edu"}}