The print dates from around 1831. Hokusai was already over 70 years old and a celebrated artist in his own country. He portrayed a heaving sea with three boats and a giant wave with Mount Fuji in the morning sun in the background. It is the archetype of the Japanese woodcut, an image so powerful that it survives every violation (the print has been commercialised in countless ways). This is due to the simplicity of the image itself, but also because of its metaphorical value. The wave cannot be separated from Japan’s war history. It featured on propaganda posters in the Second World War, after which it was forbidden by the American occupying forces, only to make a comeback during the 1964 Olympics. Hence, the Great Wave also stands for national autonomy and pride on the part of citizens.
Escher too realised that the ultimate wave had already been created. Not that he had never drawn waves or cut them into wood. He had even started in lino. Waves from 1918 already indicate an early fascination with the subject. They are also clearly visible in the woodcut The Second Day of Creation. What is particularly striking, is that the sea, which he often depicted in his work, is usually very settled. There are no waves to be seen. There is barely a ripple, as is the case in Castle in the Air, Citadel of Calvi, The Drowned Cathedral, Scilla or Atrani. In Phosphorescent Sea you can see a few small waves rolling up the beach, but this is nothing to write home about. This is partly due to the fact that there were very few waves during the period that Escher visited these places, but perhaps he already knew his limitations. In his work after the war no waves can be seen at all.
