Beneath the Great Wave: Hokusai and Hiroshige

Beneath the Great Wave: Hokusai and Hiroshige

Tuesday 19 May 2026

Step into Japan’s floating world and explore the art of Hokusai and Hiroshige, two visionary artists whose images have shaped how we see nature, landscape and everyday life.

Beneath the Great Wave brings together exceptional ukiyo-e prints from Edo-period Japan. Ukiyo-e — meaning “pictures of the floating world” — are colourful woodblock prints that captured scenes of travel, nature and popular culture during a time of peace and creativity in Japan’s history. 

At the heart of the exhibition is Under the Wave off Kanagawa — widely known as The Great Wave.  Alongside this celebrated image, the exhibition explores the wider world of ukiyo-e, tracing stories of artistic ambition and innovation against the backdrop of a rapidly changing Edo Japan.  

This is an unmissable opportunity to step into the floating world and experience Japanese art that continues to shape how we see the world today under the guidance of curator Imogen Holmes-Roe

Further Details:

Cost per person: £10.00

Booking deadline: 17/05/2026

When: Tuesday 19 May at the Whitworth Art Gallery

Time: 11.am Meet at the entrance to the gallery, by the reception desk  at 10.55 for the 11.0am tour

Cost: £10 pp

There will be time for coffee before and lunch afterwards at the Cafe.

This event will be repeated on Tuesday 16 June