Katsushika Hokusai’s Great Wave off Kanagawa, $2.8 Million, as Broken Records Again.

The Great Wave off Kanagawa (Japanese: 神奈川沖浪裏, Hepburn: Kanagawa-oki Nami Ura; lit. 'Under the Wave off Kanagawa') is a woodblock print by the Japanese ukiyo-e artist Hokusai (1760–1849), created in late 1831 Edo period of Japanese history.

The print sold for HK$ 21.7 million, which is about US $2.8 million.

That price more than tripled the high estimate. (ArtMajeur Online Art Gallery)

THE WAVE THAT LIVES WITHIN US: THANKSGIVING REFLECTION ON HOKUSAI, HOPE AND THE ETERNAL OCEAN OF HUMANITY

Today, on Thanksgiving, I want to offer something deeper than a holiday greeting. I want to offer hope. Real hope. The kind of hope that rises even when the world feels shaken, divided and overwhelmed by storms we never asked for.

My favorite painting in the world, Katsushika Hokusai’s Great Wave off Kanagawa, has broken records again. Seeing its value rise once more reminded me why this single image has shaped so many of us. It shaped me. It changed the direction of art. It still teaches us today.

Hokusai was more than a master. He transformed the visual language of the world. Before him, blue was rare, expensive, unstable and often poisonous. It existed mostly in the sky or in minerals that damaged the body. Arsenic greens, cyanide blues and other harmful pigments were used in clothing, cosmetics and even medicines that quietly hurt generations. Yet Hokusai took a new synthetic pigment known as Prussian Blue and created pure emotion, identity and meaning. He took chemistry and turned it into memory.

He made blue desirable and fashionable. He gave it life and power. Blue became the symbol of depth, vulnerability, strength and the unseen mysteries inside every human being.

His waves became an obsession for collectors and for anyone who has ever felt overwhelmed or inspired by the rhythm of existence. The wave is not only water. It is the mind. It is emotion. It is fear and bravery. It is the collective consciousness of humanity breathing in one moment. A single drop of water means nothing. Millions of drops create the ocean. Together we become the wave.

This is why the Great Wave became one of the most iconic images in the world. And this is why its value continues to rise. True art carries knowledge. True art carries symbols. True art moves us into evolution instead of emptiness.

Today’s art market often elevates works with no symbolism and no message, works created for fashion rather than for meaning. But Hokusai’s wave is not fashion. It is identity. It is memory. It is humanity in motion.

Today, on Thanksgiving, I want to look at this painting and choose to believe in a better direction. After every storm there is calm. Light always finds a way. Even in painting, darkness has to move aside when the light arrives. There is no space for the dark when the light demands its place.

The painting I am sharing today, my own wave in violet, gold and electric blue, is still in progress. I will add a few more highlights because the composition is about the moment when darkness and light collide. I want the light to guide the path. I want to express the hope that we all need.

To everyone navigating their own storm, I invite you to keep your compass aligned with peace, communication, dialogue, study and knowledge. These are the tools that help us navigate the chaos of the world. The storm may be strong but there is always a path through it and always a calm after it.

The wave represents all of this. It represents who we are and who we can still become. Art should guide us. Art should elevate us. Art should remind us that we are powerful, electric and capable of unity.

On this Thanksgiving, I extend my hand in hope. Thank you for being part of this journey. If you wish, leave me a comment or write to miamiartreviews@gmail.com. I would love to know what the wave means to you.

To explore more of Hokusai’s waves, you can find the full collection here
https colon slash slash en dot wikipedia dot org slash wiki slash The underscore Great underscore Wave underscore off underscore Kanagawa

To revisit my earlier article about Hokusai and the story of Prussian Blue, you can read it here
https colon slash slash www dot miamiartreviews dot com slash 2025 slash 07 slash katsushika hyphen hokusai hyphen 1760 hyphen 1849 hyphen prussian dot html

May we all find calm after the storm.
May we all remember the wave that lives inside us.
And may we continue evolving, one drop at a time.

Reference:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Wave_off_Kanagawa

Below, scroll to “Series” → Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji — includes all main wave variations.
You can write:
Hokusai painted many versions of the wave. You can explore the full series here.

The Great Wave off Kanagawa (Japanese: 神奈川沖浪裏, Hepburn: Kanagawa-oki Nami Ura; lit. 'Under the Wave off Kanagawa') is a woodblock print by the Japanese ukiyo-e artist Hokusai (1760–1849), created in late 1831 during the Edo period of Japanese history.

Blue Innovation, Prussian Blue Legacy, Hokusai Waves, Iconic Symbolism, Emotional Ocean, Collective Memory, Creative Spirit, Human Evolution, Art Dialogue, Eternal Movement, Hope After Storm,

Previous Hokusai article.

Previous article on Hokusai is here:

For a deeper dive into Prussian Blue and Hokusai’s legacy, Read my earlier article here.

 What we know about the sale

• The sale happened at Sotheby's Hong Kong during the auction titled Masterpieces of Asian Art from the Okada Museum of Art Auction on November 22, 2025. (ArtMajeur Online Art Gallery)

• The print sold for HK$ 21.7 million, which is about US $2.8 million. That price more than tripled the high estimate. (ArtMajeur Online Art Gallery)

• The auction was part of a larger sale — the full Okada Museum collection — which achieved a “white-glove result”: all 125 lots sold for a total of HK$ 688 million (≈ US $88 million). (ArtMajeur Online Art Gallery)

• “On November 22, 2025, at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, the Great Wave sold for HK$21.7 million (≈ US $2.8 million).”

• “The sale was part of the Okada Museum collection auction, which totalled HK$688 million.”

• “The buyer is described only as a Japanese collector; their identity remains undisclosed.”

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