The Great Wave off Kanagawa, 1830

The Trente-Six Vues du Mont Fuji (The 36 Views of Mount Fuji), including Sous la Vague (Under the Wave) are part of Katsushika Hokusai's (1760-1849) most grandiose work . A famous piece, it had a huge impact on French artists in the 19th century.
The movement of the curves and counter-curves of the wave depicted by the artist evokes a dynamic catastrophe. In the pure Japanese sense, it also depicts the fragile character of human life when faced with the forces of nature.
Mount Fuji is not usually noticed upon first glance. In the crux of the wave, its dimension is reduced from afar, on an extremely low horizon. Hokusai borrowed this perspective from the Western style. The point of view, close to that of the fishermen, serves to make the wave appear more menacing.
Having received artistic training at the Ukiyo-e, Hokusai gradually tired of traditional subjects, preferring to spend more time on landscapes.
In the minimalist palette, we can note an artificial pigment, devised in Germany in 1709, called Prussian Blue , which was admired for its intensity.