Under the Wave of Kanagawa (The Great Wave) by Katsushika Hokusai

Under the Wave of Kanagawa (The Great Wave) by Katsushika Hokusai, circa 1830-1833

© British Museum

Details

Medium:

Colour woodblock print on paper Dimensions: 25.8 x 37.9cm

Art Fund grant:

£25,000 ( Total: £130,000)

Acquired in:

2008

Vendor:

Israel Goldman

This is one of the top twenty or so surviving impressions of the print now known in the world. This impression is in very good condition and has a particularly beautiful woodgrain pattern in the dark sky either side of Mt. Fuji that seems to be unique among surviving impressions. The British Museum has two other inferior impressions.

Provenance

Densmore Sisters, Paris; ?Rene Druart, late 1940s; by descent; Sotheby's, Paris, 2007; Israel Goldman.