Wave (1895–98): Art, History and Details

Wave (1895–98) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Aristide Maillol (French, 1861–1944).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

The color woodcuts of Katsushika Hokusai were highly esteemed. One of his most famous prints, The Great Wave off Kanagawa (1823-31), is a striking image of an enormous cresting wave. Maillol exploited the curling water motif to achieve an energetic linear design that surrounds and cushions the nude woman but also creates a lively contrast to the large, flat white shape of her body. A precursor to Maillol's future work as a sculptor, Wave reveals the artist's interest in conveying the sensual curves of the female form.

Object facts

• Title: Wave
• Date: 1895–98
• Creator attribution: Aristide Maillol (French, 1861–1944)
• Culture: France, late 19th Century
• Type: Print
• Technique: wood engraving
• Dimensions: Image: 16.9 x 19.6 cm (6 5/8 x 7 11/16 in.); Sheet: 25.1 x 30.3 cm (9 7/8 x 11 15/16 in.)
• Collection: PR - Wood engraving
• Department: Prints
• Accession number: 1997.5

A detail from the museum

This print dates from a period when Aristide Maillol used his wife, Clotilde, as his primary model.

Collection credit

Dudley P. Allen Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Cleveland Museum of Art, “Major Neoclassical Marble, Rare Korean Sculpture, Other Recent CMA Acquisitions Now on View,” April 16, 1997, Cleveland Museum of Art Archives.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.