Ćwiczenia z języka angielskiego

The Great Wave off Kanagawa is probably the most famous Japanese work of art. Created by Hokusai, it is not a painting, but a woodblock print. That means that more people are involved in creating the work. First, the artist (in this case Hokusai) creates a design, then a carver creates a number of wooden blocks (one for each colour), destroying the design while doing that, and finally, printers print the design on a paper. This way, there can be as many as five thousand copies of the work. That’s why The Great Wave can be seen in New York, London, Japan, or Brussels.

Compared to the huge wave, representing the power and greatness of nature, the people in the picture are barely noticeable. Each boat has, in fact, ten people on it. Seeing how small they are helps us imagine the size of the wave.

In the background of the print is Mount Fuji, an active volcano which is a Japanese national symbol and an inspiration for many artworks.