In the manner of Katsushika Hokusai
Japanese, 1760–1849
Great Wave off the Container Port, 2026
Woodblock print
26 × 39 cm
Never painted.
Commissioned for the collection, 2026.
PAB 2026.5.1
Moving, 9-second loop ·
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The wave rears up from the right, its crest breaking into claws of foam, and on its face a single surfer paddles for the lip, very small and very keen. Far out on a flat horizon, a container ship sits stacked and indifferent. Hokusai used a mountain as the fixed point in a moving world. The ship will do. It has the same patience, and it is also running late.
The brief
A huge wave seen from the beach, curling from right to left with claw-like foam, a small surfer paddling up its face, a distant container ship with stacked containers small and calm on the horizon, no mountain, a different composition from any famous print. Japanese ukiyo-e woodblock print, flat areas of Prussian blue, indigo, ochre and pale cream, bold outlined forms, stylised curling waves and clouds, a small distant landmark anchoring the composition, dramatic foreground movement, visible wood grain and slight registration offset, rice paper texture. Museum photograph of the print on paper, flat even lighting, no frame, no text, no wall, no floor, cropped to the edge of the sheet.
Written to the house rules. The painter's name does not appear.
Take it home
The painting on this room's wall, at its own proportions, nothing written on it.
