The wave motif is taken fromKatsushika Hokusai (1760-1849),
a Japanese painter and wood engraver, who is an exceptional example
of the Ukiyo-e, or "pictures of the floating world"
(everyday life) school of printmaking.
Hokusai was an aknowledged influence on the french impressionists
Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, and Henri Toulouse-Lautrec, who collected his work.
