Hokusai's Great Wave

These days, I keep a small reproduction of Hokusai's Great Wave off the Coast of Kanagawa (1831, Edo period, Japan) where I can see it, on my desk or on the bedside table. Originally a greeting card, it's becoming somewhat battered. I'll look for a new reproduction. That should not be hard to find.

 

 

 

The huge wave is about to crash upon three long slender boats, in which tiny people paddle furiously. (The third boat is almost invisible). Despite the danger, it seems likely they'll remain afloat. 

 

Mount Fuji is near the centre of the image, though remote from the storm: it is still, quiet, peaceful, like a person in deep meditation while wind and rain rage outside. 

 

Hokusai's 36 woodcuts of Mount Fuji are his best-known works, created when he was 70 years old and struggling with money problems caused by his family.

(Reproduction acknowledgement: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Wave_off_Kanagawa#/media/File:Tsunami_by_hokusai_19th_century.jpg) 

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