My top 10 pieces of art: 6

The Great Wave off Kanagawa (神奈川沖浪裏) Hokusai (1829-1832)

The Great Wave is a colour woodcut carved by the Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai and is one of the most famous Japanese artwork in history. The image is of a large "okinami lit" wave that batters the coast of Kanagawa, threatening the boats off the coast. I've often had a fascination with the Japanese culture - I find their artwork to represent beauty and purity - but one of the main attractions to this particular piece was how Hokusai managed to represent Japan in one piece; the symbolic peak of Mount Fuji - which is thought to mean "immortal" or "never-ending", the treacherous weather conditions that's similar to the Tsunami wave, the fishing boats, and the almost animated appearance of the whole piece.

One of the main attractions of this for me was how Hokusai managed to make the wave peaks look like menacing hands and fingers that are waiting to strike the boats, and the immense detail that goes into the design. We can see that these waves are very overpowering and menacing in nature, but because of its animated nature it resembles more of a historical document than a real-time artwork. This isn't a criticism, and it is part of the charm on why I'm attracted to the artwork.

Also, the design itself looks like a cartoon than an actual woodcarving. It looks like it was designed ahead of its time; it wouldn't look out of place in a present animated film!