Has anyone got a Hokusai 'The Great Wave...' on canvas? Did Hokusai do more than one version?

[PavlovtheForgetfulCat]

I bought a Gicclee Canvass for DH, and he opened it today.

We are bit concerned as

1. The proportions appear a little out
2. There are some dark red/vague blemishes on it in places, look a bit like blood?! Is this on the original or is it a fault with the print?
3. It does not have clouds in the background and the black behind the mountain is only halfway, we have seen some where the clouds are more prominent, and also where the black goes higher than the mountain.

The clouds could just be how the print is done, but the mountain indicates it is not a true print? Or that others might not be a true print?

It was not cheap so we need to know whether to send it back for a replacement and see if the blemishes are part of the picture or for refund and get a different print/canvas

[PavlovtheForgetfulCat]

Did he do different versions of the same piece of art?

[EachPeachPearMum]

I think there are different versions yes.
But the red bits sound odd....
sorry- you were so excited about this the other week- what a bummer...

[PavlovtheForgetfulCat]

the red bits are really vague, and remind me of blood smears, they are not really noticeable from afar but make the print look a bit dirty.

If there are several versions that makes me happier, I will send it back and get the same one again, see if these disappear. There seem too many to be part of the print iyswim?

We think upon looking the proportions seem out as it is on canvass and the picture appears quite large, as there is no frame to break it up. So when it is on the wall this will look more in proportion.

[Pietafineart]

There are certainly several versions - the original was a woodblock print: a piece of wood was carved either by Hokusai himself or an assistant with the image, the block was then inked and printed. To get the different colours the block was inked each time for each colour separately. Due to the nature of printing this way, each pressing is slightly different. There were also probably a number of states due to the prints popularity - so when the first print run had sold out, the block had to be recarved because they can't handle many pressings (they get worn and the impression is no longer sharp), each recarving of the block and subsequent printing is known as a 'state'. It is likely that there were lots of states of the original, probably even posthumous. So a photo-mechanical reproduction of this would depend on what print edition they used as their source photo.

[mylifewithstrangers]

Does this help at all??