Skip to main content
Collections Menu
SAM'S collection
Photo: Colleen Kollar Zorn
In the Well of the Wave off Kanagawa, from the series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji
Photo: Colleen Kollar Zorn

In the Well of the Wave off Kanagawa, from the series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji

Date1830-32
Maker Katsushika Hokusai Japanese, 1760 - 1849
Label TextOne of the most recognizable images in the art world, Hokusai’s Great Wave is part of the series that depicts views of Mount Fuji in thirty-six different guises. Here, the sacred mountain is dwarfed and yet unmoved by the towering wave. First published for the New Year in 1831, this image was intended to be an auspicious one, not one depicting catastrophe, as perceived by many viewers today.
Object number2009.71
ProvenanceCollection of Edwin (1889-1968) and Irma Grabhorn (1906-2003), San Francisco, California; by descent through the family; consigned to [Sebastian Izzard, New York]; sold to Allan Kollar, Seattle, Washington, 2007; to Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, Washington, 2009
Photo CreditPhoto: Colleen Kollar Zorn
Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Asian Art Museum, Fleeting Beauty: Japanese Woodblock Prints, Apr. 1 - July 4, 2010. Text by Catherine Roche. Cat. no. 42, reproduced p. 65. Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Luminous: The Art of Asia, Oct. 13, 2011 - Jan. 8, 2012. Seattle, Washington, Seattle Asian Art Museum, Boundless: Stories of Asian Art, Feb. 8, 2020 - ongoing [on view Oct. 29, 2021 - Jan. 16, 2022].Published ReferencesIshikawa, Chiyo, ed. A Community of Collectors: 75th Anniversary Gifts to the Seattle Art Museum. Seattle, Washington: Seattle Art Museum, 2007; reproduced pp. 6, 172 (no. 147). Junker, Patricia. Albert Bierstadt, Puget Sound on the Pacific Coast: A Superb Vision of Dreamland, in association with Beauty and Bounty: American Art in the Age of Exploration. Seattle, Washington: Seattle Art Museum in association with University of Washington Press, 2011; pp. 55, 57, reproduced fig. 3.16 [not in exhibition].
Credit LineGift of Mary and Allan Kollar, in honor of the 75th Anniversary of the Seattle Art Museum
Dimensions10 3/16 x 14 15/16 in. (25.9 x 37.9 cm)
MediumWoodblock print; ink and color on paper
Image Not Available for Tago Beach near Eijiri on the Tokaido Highway, Simplified View (Tokaido Eijiri tago-no-ura ryakuzu), from the series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku sanjurokkei)
Tago Beach near Eijiri on the Tokaido Highway, Simplified View (Tokaido Eijiri tago-no-ura ryakuzu), from the series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku sanjurokkei)
Katsushika Hokusai
ca. 1830-33
Object number: 2010.47.2
Photo: William Wickett
South Wind, Clear Dawn (Gaifu kaisei), from the series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku sanjurokkei)
Katsushika Hokusai
ca. 1830-32
Object number: 2010.15
Image Not Available for Rainstorm beneath the Summit (Sanka haku-u), from the series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku sanjurokkei)
Rainstorm beneath the Summit (Sanka haku-u), from the series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku sanjurokkei)
Katsushika Hokusai
ca. 1830-32
Object number: 2010.47.3
Photo: Colleen Kollar Zorn
Yoshida on the Tōkaidō, from the series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji
Katsushika Hokusai
ca. 1830-32
Object number: 2010.47.1
Image Not Available for The Poem of Sangi Hitoshi (Minamoto no Hitoshi), from the series One Hundred Poets, One Verse Each, as Told by the Nurse (Hyakunin isshu uba ga etoki)
The Poem of Sangi Hitoshi (Minamoto no Hitoshi), from the series One Hundred Poets, One Verse Each, as Told by the Nurse (Hyakunin isshu uba ga etoki)
Katsushika Hokusai
ca. 1838
Object number: 2010.47.4
Image Not Available for The Poem of Ono no Komachi, from the series One Hundred Poets, One Verse Each, as Told by the Nurse
The Poem of Ono no Komachi, from the series One Hundred Poets, One Verse Each, as Told by the Nurse
Katsushika Hokusai
ca. 1838
Object number: 2010.47.6
Photo: Colleen Kollar Zorn
Lingering Snow on Mount Hira (Hira no bosetsu), from the series Eight Views of Omi (Omi hakkei no uchi)
Utagawa Hiroshige
ca. 1834-35
Object number: 2017.23.2
Photo: Colleen Kollar Zorn
The Poem of Ariwara no Narihira (Ariwara no Narihira Ason)
Katsushika Hokusai
ca. 1838
Object number: 2010.47.5
Photo: Susan Cole
Plum Garden at Kameido (Kameido Ume yashiki), from the series One Hundred Views of Famous Places in Edo (Meisho Edo hyakkei)
Utagawa Hiroshige
1857
Object number: 2017.23.22
Image Not Available for Teahouse Waitress behind a Bamboo Blind, from the series Eight Views of Tea Stalls in Celebrated Places
Teahouse Waitress behind a Bamboo Blind, from the series Eight Views of Tea Stalls in Celebrated Places
Kitagawa Utamaro
ca. 1795-96
Object number: 2017.23.8
Photo: Susan Cole
Evening Rain on the Nihon Embankment (Nihon zutsumi no yau), from the series Eight Fashionable Views of Edo (Furyu Edo hakkei)
Suzuki Harunobu
1766
Object number: 2013.31.2
Photo: Colleen Kollar Zorn
Hands inside the Sleeves (Futokorode), from the series Eight Views of Tea Stalls in Celebrated Places (Meisho koshikake hakkei)
Kitagawa Utamaro
ca. 1795-96
Object number: 2017.23.6