Theo and later his widow, Jo van Gogh-Bonger, took good care of Van Gogh’s Japanese prints, so that the majority of them eventually found their way into the Van Gogh Museum. The Sower Almond Blossom Carafe and Citrus Fruit In the Van Gogh Museum From 1888 and his time in Arles (southern France) onwards, his compositions became flatter, more intense in colour, with clear lines and decorative patterns. Van Gogh had assimilated the stylistic features of Japanese art in his own work. Having the prints close at hand enabled him to study them ‘calmly and at length’.Īfter a year or so, he no longer needed them to see the world ‘with a more Japanese eye’. Although he moved house regularly, he always took a number of them with him. We know that Van Gogh also had the prints lying around as he worked. Zoom in on the corners of the prints to see these traces of use. He pinned them to the walls of his studio, leaving holes that can still be seen today in a surprisingly large number of them. Vincent surrounded himself with his Japanese prints in the Paris apartment he shared with his brother Theo. The art of the future, Van Gogh was convinced, had to be colourful and joyous, just like Japanese printmaking.įlowering Plum Orchard Courtesan Bridge in the Rain Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear Portrait of Père Tanguy Traces of use He also worked them into the background of his portraits. In the autumn of that year, he painted three copies of prints in his collection. When nothing came of this plan he began to study them more closely in the course of 1887. He intended to start trading in the prints. Van Gogh most likely bought the Japanese woodcuts on a whim. He preferred prints with bright colours and attractive motifs, such as geishas in kimonos and exotic landscapes. Van Gogh did not pick out the best-known or most expensive works. In the attic of his gallery Van Gogh was able to browse the thousands of Japanese prints Bing offered for sale at low prices. In a single brief period in the winter of 1886–87, Vincent van Gogh bought 660 woodcuts from the Paris art dealer Siegfried Bing. Find out more about his collection: discover why he collected these prints, where did he get them and what kind of prints he preferred. After a year, he returned north to be closer to his brother Théo, who had been his constant support in July he died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.Vincent van Gogh owned a large number of Japanese prints. He painted whenever he could, believing that in work lay his only chance for sanity. In April, following periods of intense work interrupted by recurring mental disturbances, Van Gogh committed himself to a sanitarium in St.-Rémy. It was soon clear that their personalities and artistic temperaments were incompatible, and Van Gogh suffered a breakdown just before Christmas. Van Gogh hoped to attract like-minded painters to Arles, but only Gauguin joined him, staying about two months. His activity was not undisciplined quite the opposite, he worked diligently to perfect his craft. Yet his densely painted canvases remained connected to nature-their colors and rhythmic surfaces communicate the spiritual power he believed inhabited and shaped nature's forms. Working feverishly, Van Gogh pushed his style to greater expression with intense, energetic brushwork and saturated, complementary colors. He hoped Provence’s warm climate would relax him and that the brilliant colors and strong light of the south would provide inspiration for his art. Although stimulated by the city’s artistic environment, Van Gogh found life in Paris physically exhausting and moved in early 1888 to Arles.
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