The Blue Wave
The Blue Wave, Nevinson’s first color lithograph, reflects the influence of Japanese color woodblock prints, in particular, Katsushika Hokusai’s 1830–32 Under the Wave off Kanagawa (Kanagawa oki nami ura), also known as The Great Wave off Kanagawa, from the series Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji. Nevinson, like Hokusai, created an image in which nature is shown as sublime—that is, awe-inspiring in both its beauty and potential for danger. While Hokusai took a broader view and included additional elements, such as Mount Fuji and three small boats with rowers, Nevinson omitted representations of people and anything man-made. Instead, in this tightly cropped composition, he presented a nearly abstract image comprising dramatic rolling waves topped with crests of foam. The Blue Wave, made when Nevinson was focusing almost exclusively on war images, likely also refers to the trauma of warfare and contemporary turmoil.
Artwork Details
- Title: The Blue Wave
- Artist: Christopher Richard Wynne Nevinson (British, London 1889–1946 London)
- Date: 1917
- Medium: Lithograph
- Dimensions: Sheet: 17 1/8 × 22 1/2 in. (43.5 × 57.2 cm)
Image: 13 3/8 × 16 3/4 in. (34 × 42.5 cm) - Classification: Prints
- Credit Line: Purchase, Leslie and Johanna Garfield Gift, Lila Acheson Wallace, Charles and Jessie Price, and David T Schiff Gifts, The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, Dolores Valvidia Hurlburt Bequest, PECO Foundation and Friends of Drawings and Prints Gifts, and funds from various donors, 2019
- Object Number: 2019.592.404
- Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints
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Christopher Richard Wynne Nevinson
1917
Christopher Richard Wynne Nevinson
1916
Christopher Richard Wynne Nevinson
ca. 1918
Christopher Richard Wynne Nevinson
1917
Christopher Richard Wynne Nevinson
1918
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