One of the most famous images in Asian art, the “Great Wave” poised to crest claw-like onto a trio of tiny boats with Mount Fuji in the distance has proven wildly popular since the artist created it at the age of 70 during the waning years of isolationist Edo, now Tokyo. Although intended to appeal to everyday audiences in Japan who bought and swapped such prints for small sums, Hokusai’s “Great Wave” influenced rivals like Utagawa Hiroshige and Utagawa Kuniyoshi, who soon attempted their own tsunami scenes, including the latter’s circa-1835 “Monk Nichiren Calming the Stormy Sea,” now owned by the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Hokusai’s “Great Wave” eventually made its way out of cloistered Japan—likely as a sailor’s souvenir—and made an equally big splash among artists in Europe. Curators credit the “Great Wave” with helping inspire Claude Monet’s roiling coastal seascapes as well as Vincent Van Gogh’s “Starry Night,” who substituted the wave itself in his composition for roiling, moonlit clouds. Claude Debussy’s three symphonic sketches from 1905, “The Sea,” also took Hokusai’s work as their muse. (...)
Wading into the Hokusai market requires navigating the vagaries of the prints market. Whereas paintings are prized as being one of a kind, the “Great Wave” was printed in untold multiples over several decades, with print runs extending long after Hokusai died in 1849. Hokusai, hailed as a celebrity in Edo during his lifetime for his detailed depictions of Japanese landscapes, was commissioned by publisher Nishimuraya Yohachi to create the “Great Wave.” But once the artist signed off on its woodblock design, the publisher had free rein to issue as many copies as possible. It’s unclear how many “Waves” exist in the world, so collectors must be wary of potential fakes.
Mr. Izzard said he’s probably sold 40 versions of the “Great Wave” over the course of his career, with prices easily tripling over the past decade for worthy versions, he said. The most recent version surpassed a “Great Wave” sold at Christie’s in 2021 for $1.5 million, over its $250,000 high estimate.
He said collectors tend to pay more for “Great Wave” prints whose lines remain crisply sharp because it means they were printed on the woodblock early on—as opposed to later, fuzzier versions created once the block itself had worn down from use. Another way to tell: Early versions, like the one Christie’s sold, show the subtle outline of a cloud against a pale pink sky.
Image: Katsushika Hokusai
