Katsushika Hokusai’s Great Wave is possibly one of the most celebrated works in art history, But did you know it’s part of a much larger series?

Look closely and you will see framed by the great frothing crested wave is Japan’s Mount Fuji. The Great Wave, which is actually titled Under the Wave off Kanagawa, is only one of 46 of Hokusai’s Views of Mount Fuji, created between 1830 and 1834. You can see them all for the first time in the UK at London’s Dulwich Picture Gallery.

Across the series, Hokusai depicts the mountain from varying viewpoints, times of year and day, and across moments in people’s lives. You’ll see Mount Fuji on a clear day, in the distance from a street lined with shops, from the perspective of people on a pilgrimage and from the balcony of a temple.

Our reviewer Dominik Havsteen-Franklin was moved by how much his relationship with the Great Wave was altered by seeing it as one in a whole series. When he looked at the wave and the mighty Fuji looking tiny in the distance, he thought of the people working at its base and living in the villages surrounding it. He realised how the mountain’s colour would change if Hokusai had painted it at a different time of year. Ultimately, he was left with was an ever-greater appreciation for this important work.

Hokusai: Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji from the Iuchi Collection is on at Dulwich Picture Gallery, London, until January 17 2027

Read more: Hokusai’s Great Wave is one of 46 prints of Mount Fuji – seeing them together changes everything

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