© The Whitworth
Beneath the Great Wave: Hokusai and Hiroshige
14 March 2026 — 15 November 2026
On NowHokusai's Great Wave plus rare Edo-period ukiyo-e prints by Hokusai and Hiroshige. A rare chance to see Japanese woodblock masterworks spanning nature, travel and popular culture.
From The Whitworth
Beneath the Great Wave brings together exceptional ukiyo-e prints from Edo-period Japan. Ukiyo-e — meaning "pictures of the floating world" — were colourful woodblock prints that captured scenes of travel, nature and popular culture during a time of peace and creativity in Japan's history. From towering waves and rushing waterfalls to quiet roads and distant mountains, these works reveal moments of beauty, drama and movement that still feel strikingly modern today....
Read more at The Whitworth →Critic Reviews
The Guardian
Ben Eastham
How two Japanese masters reinvented art
"There is not enough space (in this article, on the internet) to adequately describe the bands of colour that Hokusai gives to the skies through pine trees and plum gardens (one literal translation of mono no aware is “the ah!-ness of things”, which is perhaps as close as we can get)."
Read full review →The Times
Laura Freeman
a fresh look at a Japanese icon
"We’re so used to seeing the Great Wave, we forget to look. Beneath the Great Wave: Hokusai and Hiroshige at the Whitworth gallery in Manchester introduces us to Hokusai’s most famous print as if we are encountering it for the first time. This perceptive, beautifully presented show is arranged across two rooms."
Read full review →About the Artists
Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian
Katsushika Hokusai
Japanese · 1760–1849
Prints, Drawing & Works on Paper
Master of ukiyo-e printmaking whose depictions of Mount Fuji and ocean waves defined a vision of Japan that shaped Western Impressionism and continues to influence art and design worldwide.
San Diego Museum of Art
Utagawa Hiroshige
Japanese · 1797–1858
Prints, Drawing & Works on Paper
Hiroshige's woodblock prints of rain, snow, and the Tōkaidō road combined lyrical naturalism with bold graphic design, capturing transient weather and mood with a subtlety that shaped European Post-Impressionism.
Visit
Manchester·View on artmap
Sunday10am–5pm
MondayClosed
Tuesday10am–5pm
Wednesday10am–5pm
Thursday10am–9pm
Friday10am–5pm
Saturday ·10am–5pm
© The Whitworth
Beneath the Great Wave: Hokusai and Hiroshige
14 March 2026 — 15 November 2026
On NowHokusai's Great Wave plus rare Edo-period ukiyo-e prints by Hokusai and Hiroshige. A rare chance to see Japanese woodblock masterworks spanning nature, travel and popular culture.
From The Whitworth
Beneath the Great Wave brings together exceptional ukiyo-e prints from Edo-period Japan. Ukiyo-e — meaning "pictures of the floating world" — were colourful woodblock prints that captured scenes of travel, nature and popular culture during a time of peace and creativity in Japan's history. From towering waves and rushing waterfalls to quiet roads and distant mountains, these works reveal moments of beauty, drama and movement that still feel strikingly modern today....
Read more at The Whitworth →Critic Reviews
The Guardian
Ben Eastham
How two Japanese masters reinvented art
"There is not enough space (in this article, on the internet) to adequately describe the bands of colour that Hokusai gives to the skies through pine trees and plum gardens (one literal translation of mono no aware is “the ah!-ness of things”, which is perhaps as close as we can get)."
Read full review →The Times
Laura Freeman
a fresh look at a Japanese icon
"We’re so used to seeing the Great Wave, we forget to look. Beneath the Great Wave: Hokusai and Hiroshige at the Whitworth gallery in Manchester introduces us to Hokusai’s most famous print as if we are encountering it for the first time. This perceptive, beautifully presented show is arranged across two rooms."
Read full review →About the Artists
Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian
Katsushika Hokusai
Japanese · 1760–1849
Prints, Drawing & Works on Paper
Master of ukiyo-e printmaking whose depictions of Mount Fuji and ocean waves defined a vision of Japan that shaped Western Impressionism and continues to influence art and design worldwide.
San Diego Museum of Art
Utagawa Hiroshige
Japanese · 1797–1858
Prints, Drawing & Works on Paper
Hiroshige's woodblock prints of rain, snow, and the Tōkaidō road combined lyrical naturalism with bold graphic design, capturing transient weather and mood with a subtlety that shaped European Post-Impressionism.
Visit
Manchester·View on artmap
Sunday10am–5pm
MondayClosed
Tuesday10am–5pm
Wednesday10am–5pm
Thursday10am–9pm
Friday10am–5pm
Saturday ·10am–5pm