Hokusai - "The Breaking Wave off Kanagawa" For the first time in the history of art we are able to demonstrate
a dramatic convergence between Hokusai [1760 to 1849] and Turner [1775
to 1851] . They co-existed on opposite sides of our planet for almost
three-quarters of a century. Somehow, in spite of the huge distance
that separated them,they created many ideas along parallel lines in
the course of their artistic development - Hokusai in Japan and Turner
in London.
The curators at The Turner Museum discovered no less than
fifty converging themes over the course of their long lives. None as
dramatic as their Great Waves, presented for the first time, in this
exhibition! Most of us instantly recognize Hokusai's Great Wave which
has become over the centuries the towering icon of Oriental art -
reproduced millions of times all over the world on calendars, posters
and greeting cards. Lesser known is Turner's Great Wave off
Quilleboeuf, a small French village off the Atlantic Ocean. This wave
is the result of the clash between the River Seine's outrushing waters
and the incoming tides of the Atlantic. To this day it is quite a
hazard for boats coming home from fishing in the Atlantic. Turner
appeared to have developed a great affinity for this dramatic scene
and as was his custom with many of his favorite images, created
several versions on paper and in oils.
Perhaps the best known, and
certainly the largest version, is in Lisbon's famed Gulbenkian Museum.
The oil sketch reproduced here, on the walls of The Turner Museum,
appears to be a preparatory work for the large version. In the
1830's Turner worked along the Seine, starting close to Paris, to
produce some 20 images for the album of steel-engravings: "Turner's
Annual Tour - The Seine - 1835". This, along with two companion
albums, became the 19th Century version of an instant coffee-table
best-seller, with a total of 61 memorable views, one of which is
entitled simply "Quilleboeuf" the version exhibited here is the only one
which has a great wave, all the others have two or more smaller waves.
Hokusai was similarly engaged, at
exactly the same time, in a soon-to-be famed series: "36 views of
Mount Fuji", all wood-cuts, reproduced on paper. Thus the stellar
geniuses of the Orient and the Occident worked on quite similar
projects in the 1830's - both at the peak of their artistic careers!
J.M.W. Turner - "Great Wave off Quilleboeuf"
