"The Great Wave" returns to display for a few months at the Art Institute of Chicago
CHICAGO (CBS) -- An iconic piece of art has gone back on display at the Art Institute of Chicago after five years in storage.
Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai's "The Great Wave"—or "Under the Wave off Kanagawa" (Kanagawa oki nami ura, or 神奈川沖浪裏)—is considered one of the most famous images in the world. It is one of the items in a celebrated series "Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji" (Fugaku sanjûrokkei, or 冨嶽三十六景), which the artist began in 1830 when he was 70 years old, the Art Institute said.
The series is credited with establishing the popularity of landscape prints, the Art Institute said. It is notable for its use of Berlin blue, or Prussian blue, pigment—which was newly affordable at the time and which is used to color the sky and water.
Each scene from the series features Mount Fuji as the protagonist—sometimes seen from a distance as in "The Great Wave," other times up close—during various season and weather conditions and from every direction, the Art Institute said.
In "The Great Wave," the distant Mount Fuji is dwarfed by the crest of a massive ocean wave.
There are three different impressions of "The Great Wave" at the Art Institute—all of which came later than the first design but are all original editions.
The Art Institute notes that "The Great Wave" is not a painting but a commercially-produced print—mass-produced to the tune of thousands and continuing to be printed even after Hokusai died. Only about 100 original prints are believed to survive today, including the three at the Art Institute, the institution said.
"The Great Wave" is only placed on display for three months at a time every four years, the Art Institute said. This is because Japanese woodblock prints are affected by light exposure, which can fade their colors and damage the paper on which they are printed, the Art Institute said.
This time around, "The Great Wave" will actually be on display for four months, until Jan. 6, 2025. It returned to display on Thursday of this week.