What kind of painting is "The Great Wave off Kanagawa"?

It is a world-famous work that makes people say, “When you think of ukiyo-e, this is it!” In Japan, it is used in the design of the new banknotes for 2024, and it still has immeasurable influence.
Among Hokusai's wave works that he has painted over many years, the dynamic composition and the interplay of stillness and movement is one of the masterpieces. It is a world-famous masterpiece that is still in the collection of famous art galleries and museums in Japan and overseas, and continues to influence contemporary artists.

Katsushika Hokusai is one of the most important people in the world

In 1998, the famous American journal "LIFE" conducted a survey "Who is the most important person in the past 1000 years?" and announced the ranking of the top 100 people. Katsushika Hokusai was the only Japanese artist to be selected while famous greats such as Edison and Columbus ranked first and Columbus ranked second.

Its influence is truly significant, and it crosses genres such as not only Impressionist masters in painting such as Monet and Degas, but also crafts and sculptures by Tiffany and Camille Claudel, Debussy's music, and Frank Lloyd Wright's architecture. and penetrated into various fields.

A masterpiece created by the fusion of the symbol of Edo art culture and Hawaiian culture.

Ukiyo-e became popular as a form of everyday entertainment during the Edo period. Karakubuy's "Japanese design" series focuses on this era when Japanese art and culture have expanded further.

The identity of the pattern that stands out is Hokusai's Ukiyo-e. Aloha shirts are said to have originated from Japanese immigrants who remade kimonos. It is colored with various patterns and colors, such as Japanese patterns derived from kimono, and its excellent design is called “wearing art”. In particular, Japanese patterns are popular worldwide. This season, "karakubuy", which is reviving the profound world view based on vintage Hawaiian shirts, produced the Japanese art "Ukiyo-e pattern", which is the root of this Japanese pattern.

After more than 200 years, Karakubuy's "Kanagawa Offshore Wave" is a new series that incorporates the unknown talent of Hokusai Katsushika into the present age.