I made this project. It was first posted to Tildes a couple of years ago: https://tildes.net/~arts/19yl/where_can_i_see_hokusais_great_wave_today. I’m sharing it again now because this time of...
About The Great Wave: the original woodblock prints were mass-produced around 1830, but only a limited number of impressions survive today. They’re sensitive to light and are rarely exhibited—typically about once every four years. That’s why I built this site: to help people time their visits and have a chance to see one in person. Art lovers will understand the appeal of seeing a classic like this up close. Others may find the idea pointless or ridiculous. So it goes.
About the Site: it tracks the display status of various impressions of Katsushika Hokusai’s "The Great Wave off Kanagawa" (神奈川沖浪裏) across museums worldwide. I monitor official museum collection pages and check for changes in “on view” status. In the ~30 years I’ve been interested, I’ve only managed to see two different impressions, and I want to see as many as I can.
The backend is powered by a series of Huginn scenarios that scrape museum websites on a schedule and track changes. Not every museum has a suitable website for this, but enough do to make the project worthwhile. The hardest part was initially finding all the relevant collection pages, understanding the structure of their data, and setting up the automation. I also run automated searches for press releases and news articles to catch anything the scrapers might miss. The whole process is largely hands-off, with only a final manual check before publishing updates.
Over the past two years, I’ve simplified and optimized the system. The final data is compiled into a small CSV file, which is used to generate the web page and an RSS feed. These are cached as static files and are only updated when there’s new information. The files are hosted on a free Oracle Cloud Compute Instance running Caddy web server. That’s pretty much it!
I get a little spark of joy when I see Huginn mentioned. I worked briefly with Andrew, the creator of Huginn. Whip smart guy and decent human to boot. Fairly sure he hit it rich with some idea or...
I get a little spark of joy when I see Huginn mentioned. I worked briefly with Andrew, the creator of Huginn. Whip smart guy and decent human to boot. Fairly sure he hit it rich with some idea or another of his, unsurprisingly.
In short: yes. Each institution has its own numbering system, so if they have more than one imprint then you can tell them apart by number of not visually. They will also usually show on their...
In short: yes.
Each institution has its own numbering system, so if they have more than one imprint then you can tell them apart by number of not visually. They will also usually show on their catalogue website which is on view. Worldwide there are less than a hundred known originals, and if they are loaned out it is usually mentioned who is loaning it (a Japan museum just loaned one to Taiwan for a month or so).
Also visually they are all quite different: my favourite is the one at Maison et jardins de Claude Monet, Giverny, France, as it has all the elements I enjoy most in combination (specific colours of fuji, clouds, water, boats, people).
This is a such a nice idea for a website, thanks for sharing it. I've seen a Great Wave off Kanagawa original print and, while it was the main reason I travelled for a few hours to the relevant...
This is a such a nice idea for a website, thanks for sharing it.
I've seen a Great Wave off Kanagawa original print and, while it was the main reason I travelled for a few hours to the relevant museum, it turned out not to be the highlight of my trip. It's a great image but the prints are pretty small and don't really look any different to the reproductions. It's not quite the same as seeing a painting in the flesh where you can see the texture of the brushstrokes and the multilayered reflections from many layers of translucent pigment. It's just.. a print. A very famous one. By an amazing artist. But still.
What really struck me was the big scrolls, especially Red Zhong Kui, the Demon Queller and also Hokusai's notebooks, which I'd never seen before and are full of all sorts of wonderful sketches.
Which isn't to say I wouldn't go back to a Hokusai exhibition if there was one near me, just that I wouldn't queue to see The Great Wave this time.
Such woodblock imprints are a standard size, ~25x37cm, as they were a bit like postcards of their era. You're right that a modern repro print of a particular impression will look just like that...
the prints are pretty small
Such woodblock imprints are a standard size, ~25x37cm, as they were a bit like postcards of their era.
don't really look any different to the reproductions
You're right that a modern repro print of a particular impression will look just like that impression, by nature of it being a repro, but they will both look substantially different to other impressions (original or repro) as all impressions are unique in one or more ways. Mostly due to the nature of them being printed with different quantities and colours of ink across multiple blocks that were worn out and replaced over time.
It's not quite the same as seeing a painting in the flesh where you can see the texture of the brushstrokes and the multilayered reflections from many layers of translucent pigment. It's just.. a print.
I respectfully disagree with this, simply because it's not true. There are many imprints, all different and unique to some extent. You can absolutely see differences in composition, colour, missing elements, and more. Of course, you need to see more than one to be able to appreciate this. But you can look at two JPGs or the video below to see it.
For example, I have a modern repro print and it's markedly different to the modern repro print a friend has (my boats are light, the other dark; my horizon is light, the other dark; my fuji looks like a wave, the other less so; my clouds are visible, the other are not) and this is also true with the original imprints.
The British Museum did this lovely little video explaining why they're all different and what common features/differences mean and how they can be used to date an imprint: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_025NB8alw
What a neat niche site. The Hill-Stead Museum, Farmington link leads to a 404. It's mentioned on their general collections page under "additional works" so might still be on display Would be...
What a neat niche site.
The Hill-Stead Museum, Farmington link leads to a 404. It's mentioned on their general collections page under "additional works" so might still be on display
Would be awesome if there were a map with different colored pins depending on status to make it easier to see distance from you at a glance.
Cool idea! Often imprints are loaned out which might make the map a bit too much manually work for me. But I'll keep it in mind. And I've fixed the broken links, thanks.
Cool idea! Often imprints are loaned out which might make the map a bit too much manually work for me. But I'll keep it in mind.
Cool idea for a web-site! I've been lucky enough to see one of the prints a few times at the Art Institute of Chicago. It's always a little depressing thinking about how many amazing works of art...
Cool idea for a web-site! I've been lucky enough to see one of the prints a few times at the Art Institute of Chicago. It's always a little depressing thinking about how many amazing works of art they don't have displayed, but I'm glad they're doing what they need to in order to preserve the artwork.
Art Institute of Chicago have 3 different original imprints of The Great Wave! So they rotate them and show them more frequently than most places. And, iirc, Boston have 7!
Art Institute of Chicago have 3 different original imprints of The Great Wave! So they rotate them and show them more frequently than most places. And, iirc, Boston have 7!
I’ve never seen one, but I did build the Lego art set for it a while ago. It’s still hanging in the bathroom at my parent’s house. It’s one of the most complex Lego art sets, and was a super fun...
I’ve never seen one, but I did build the Lego art set for it a while ago. It’s still hanging in the bathroom at my parent’s house. It’s one of the most complex Lego art sets, and was a super fun build.
I made this project. It was first posted to Tildes a couple of years ago: https://tildes.net/~arts/19yl/where_can_i_see_hokusais_great_wave_today. I’m sharing it again now because this time of year is generally your best chance to catch an impression of The Great Wave on display.
About The Great Wave: the original woodblock prints were mass-produced around 1830, but only a limited number of impressions survive today. They’re sensitive to light and are rarely exhibited—typically about once every four years. That’s why I built this site: to help people time their visits and have a chance to see one in person. Art lovers will understand the appeal of seeing a classic like this up close. Others may find the idea pointless or ridiculous. So it goes.
About the Site: it tracks the display status of various impressions of Katsushika Hokusai’s "The Great Wave off Kanagawa" (神奈川沖浪裏) across museums worldwide. I monitor official museum collection pages and check for changes in “on view” status. In the ~30 years I’ve been interested, I’ve only managed to see two different impressions, and I want to see as many as I can.
The backend is powered by a series of Huginn scenarios that scrape museum websites on a schedule and track changes. Not every museum has a suitable website for this, but enough do to make the project worthwhile. The hardest part was initially finding all the relevant collection pages, understanding the structure of their data, and setting up the automation. I also run automated searches for press releases and news articles to catch anything the scrapers might miss. The whole process is largely hands-off, with only a final manual check before publishing updates.
Over the past two years, I’ve simplified and optimized the system. The final data is compiled into a small CSV file, which is used to generate the web page and an RSS feed. These are cached as static files and are only updated when there’s new information. The files are hosted on a free Oracle Cloud Compute Instance running Caddy web server. That’s pretty much it!
I get a little spark of joy when I see Huginn mentioned. I worked briefly with Andrew, the creator of Huginn. Whip smart guy and decent human to boot. Fairly sure he hit it rich with some idea or another of his, unsurprisingly.
How do you know if the one on display is one you've never seen before? Are they numbered?
In short: yes.
Each institution has its own numbering system, so if they have more than one imprint then you can tell them apart by number of not visually. They will also usually show on their catalogue website which is on view. Worldwide there are less than a hundred known originals, and if they are loaned out it is usually mentioned who is loaning it (a Japan museum just loaned one to Taiwan for a month or so).
Also visually they are all quite different: my favourite is the one at Maison et jardins de Claude Monet, Giverny, France, as it has all the elements I enjoy most in combination (specific colours of fuji, clouds, water, boats, people).
This is a such a nice idea for a website, thanks for sharing it.
I've seen a Great Wave off Kanagawa original print and, while it was the main reason I travelled for a few hours to the relevant museum, it turned out not to be the highlight of my trip. It's a great image but the prints are pretty small and don't really look any different to the reproductions. It's not quite the same as seeing a painting in the flesh where you can see the texture of the brushstrokes and the multilayered reflections from many layers of translucent pigment. It's just.. a print. A very famous one. By an amazing artist. But still.
What really struck me was the big scrolls, especially Red Zhong Kui, the Demon Queller and also Hokusai's notebooks, which I'd never seen before and are full of all sorts of wonderful sketches.
Which isn't to say I wouldn't go back to a Hokusai exhibition if there was one near me, just that I wouldn't queue to see The Great Wave this time.
Such woodblock imprints are a standard size, ~25x37cm, as they were a bit like postcards of their era.
You're right that a modern repro print of a particular impression will look just like that impression, by nature of it being a repro, but they will both look substantially different to other impressions (original or repro) as all impressions are unique in one or more ways. Mostly due to the nature of them being printed with different quantities and colours of ink across multiple blocks that were worn out and replaced over time.
I respectfully disagree with this, simply because it's not true. There are many imprints, all different and unique to some extent. You can absolutely see differences in composition, colour, missing elements, and more. Of course, you need to see more than one to be able to appreciate this. But you can look at two JPGs or the video below to see it.
For example, I have a modern repro print and it's markedly different to the modern repro print a friend has (my boats are light, the other dark; my horizon is light, the other dark; my fuji looks like a wave, the other less so; my clouds are visible, the other are not) and this is also true with the original imprints.
The British Museum did this lovely little video explaining why they're all different and what common features/differences mean and how they can be used to date an imprint: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_025NB8alw
What a neat niche site.
The Hill-Stead Museum, Farmington link leads to a 404. It's mentioned on their general collections page under "additional works" so might still be on display
Would be awesome if there were a map with different colored pins depending on status to make it easier to see distance from you at a glance.
Cool idea! Often imprints are loaned out which might make the map a bit too much manually work for me. But I'll keep it in mind.
And I've fixed the broken links, thanks.
Cool idea for a web-site! I've been lucky enough to see one of the prints a few times at the Art Institute of Chicago. It's always a little depressing thinking about how many amazing works of art they don't have displayed, but I'm glad they're doing what they need to in order to preserve the artwork.
Art Institute of Chicago have 3 different original imprints of The Great Wave! So they rotate them and show them more frequently than most places. And, iirc, Boston have 7!
I’ve never seen one, but I did build the Lego art set for it a while ago. It’s still hanging in the bathroom at my parent’s house. It’s one of the most complex Lego art sets, and was a super fun build.
I need to buy one!