#art #ukiyo-e #pigment #volcanology #volcanologie #sky

WHY IS THE SKY PINK IN 'THE GREAT WAVE"?

Although the color has now faded in many of the woodblock prints Hokusai made and sold in the 1830s, art historians confirm that the sky was originally pink in initial prints of "The Great Wave."

We can't know why the artist selected pink, but we do know that Hokusai researched available literature and illustrations before working on his own pictures. -- see "Rare Hokusai woodblock is themed on 1707 Mt. Fuji eruption" (Akihiro Tanaka & Yoshito Watari). Asahi Shimbun. May 6, 2019. http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201905060011.html

The pink sky may be intended to suggest dawn. -- see Metropolitan Museum of Art, "Dawn at Isawa in Kai Province," 1930-32. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/56349

Or maybe science provides another valid explanation?

VOLCANIC ASH IN ATMOSPHERE. In 1829, Klyuchevskaya Sopka erupted on the Kamchatka peninsula. -- see Wikipedia "List of large volcanic eruptions in the 19th century" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_large_volcanic_eruptions_of_the_19th_century; and see "Volcanos of Kamchatka"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volcanoes_of_Kamchatka

The magnitude of this Klyuchevskaya eruption was much like the 2011 eruption of Grímsvötn in Iceland. -- see "List of large volcanic eruptions in the 21st century" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_large_volcanic_eruptions_in_the_21st_century

Like the paintings of J.M.W. Turner after the 1815 eruption of Mt. Tambora, Hokusai's pink skies may simply depict the presence of volcanic ash and dust in the atmosphere. -- see "How Paintings of Sunsets Immortalize Past Volcanic Eruptions" (Sarah Zielinski). Smithsonian. March 25, 2014. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/how-paintings-sunsets-immortalize-past-volcanic-eruptions-180950254/

Skies more polluted by volcanic ash scatter sunlight more, so they appear redder. -- see "How 19th century art is painting a picture of Earth's polluted past: Turner's sunsets reveal volcanic ash and gas in the sky" (Sarah Griffiths). Daily Mail. 25 March 2014. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2588838/How-19th-century-art-painting-picture-Earths-polluted-past-Turners-sunsets-reveal-volcanic-ash-gas-sky.html

WHAT A GREAT ARTIST SEES? Red-to-green ratios measured in paintings by great masters correlate well with the amount of volcanic aerosols in the atmosphere, regardless of the painters and of the school of painting. -- see Zerefos, C.S. et al. "Further evidence of important environmental information content in red-to-green ratios as depicted in paintings by great masters," Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 2014 14:6, 2016, pp. 2987-3015. https://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/14/2987/2014/,
DOI = 10.5194/acp-14-2987-2014; and see below, compare Hokusai with J.M.W. Turner's "Sea and Sky," c.1820–30. https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/turner-sea-and-sky-d25433
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QUESTION: Does the pink sky of Hokusai suggest plausibly accurate and useful environmental observation?
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QOTO = Question Others to Teach Ourselves?