Katsushika Hokusai’s The Great Wave c.1829-32. Image courtesy of Maidstone Museum
Fri 31 Oct 2025
 @ 9:38am
Rachel Rogers
News, Things to do
York Art Gallery have announced a major new exhibition for 2026 – featuring an iconic Japanese artwork.
The new exhibition will feature Japanese woodblock prints from York Art Gallery’s extensive collection as well as iconic works such as Katsushika Hokusai’s ‘The Great Wave’ – on loan to the gallery from Maidstone Museum.
Making Waves: The Art of Japanese Woodblock Print will open on Friday 27 February 2026.
(L) Asakusa Rice-fields and Torinomachi Festival, from the series ‘One Hundred Famous Views of Edo’, part 4: Winter, 1857 by Utagawa Hiroshige
(R) Kozuke Province: Mount Haruna under Snow, from the series, ‘Famous Places in the Sixty-odd Provinces’ 1853 by
Utagawa Hiroshige
Making Waves explores the development of Japanese woodblock printing, showcasing its origins and techniques alongside the influence of nature, society and cultural change on this art form.
The exhibition features works dating from the 17th to 21st centuries, with a special focus on the heyday of Japanese woodblock printing in the 18th and 19th centuries, when artists such as Kitagawa Utamaro, Katsushika Hokusai and Utagawa Hiroshige produced vibrant and technically advanced images showcasing Japanese culture.
It will also extend into the York Museum Gardens, as an exciting new Japanese-style garden will start to take shape over the coming months. A programme of events, designed to promote creativity and wellbeing, will also accompany the exhibition.
Making Waves: The Art of Japanese Woodblock Print, will run from 27 February 2026 to 30 August 2026 and will be included in general admission to York Art Gallery.
To find out more, visit the York Art Gallery website.