Landscape and Legend

Katsushika Hokusai

Under the Wave off Kanagawa (The Great Wave)

c. 1830–32

Woodblock print; ink and color on paper, 25.7 × 37.9 cm. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

A towering wave curls over three boats, its foam breaking into claw-like fingers.

• Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji sold so well that it grew to 46 prints.
• Debussy's orchestral work La Mer is said to owe something to it.
• Look in the wave's trough: Fuji appears as a small peak, dwarfed by the water.

Image: The Met Open Access · Public domain (Met Open Access)