Pretty remarkable to see the evolution The Great Wave Off Kanagawa went through.

The artist, Hokusai, created the first version in 1803 at age 43, and didn’t create the famous version (image 3) until 1831 at age 71. In between, he suffered a stroke, lost his wife, and had financial problems.

Despite these difficulties, The Great Wave is now considered the most famous Japanese art piece in the world, and has even been immortalized via the 🌊 emoji.

In his final version (image 4), he chose not to have any boats or people, though there are more birds in this one than any other.