Japanese Influence on van Gogh's Art

Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890) produced his world-renowned art in just a ten-year period. His influence on 20th Century art is considerable, but the formative influences on his own art are also greatly significant in terms of his development as an artist. Van Gogh came to art late in his life. Moving from Holland to Antwerp in 1885, he studied for several months at the Academy, but he was too much a non-conformist for the rigid Academy environment and moved to Paris in 1886 to join his brother Theo. Considered a post-Impressionist, he discovered the work of the Impressionists in Paris, and their influence lightened his dark palette, brush stroke and subject matter. In his search for a new art of color and design, van Gogh was also greatly influenced by Japanese art, particularly his discovery of the Japanese woodcuts with their simple, elegant lines. This paper will discuss the Japanese influence on van Gogh's art.

As art historian Frederick Hartt writes, the earliest drawings and somber colored paintings of van Gogh were influenced by his association with Belgian miners and the peasants of Northern Holland. When he moved to Paris in 1886 to live with his brother Theo, he "came under the joint influences of Impressionism and Japanese prints;" these two influences "freed his palette" permitting him to work "out a fresh, new sense of pattern in contour" (Hartt 380).

When Japan opened its country and ports up to Western commercial interests, Japanese prints, porcela

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and line of Japanese artists. He wrote: "I envy the Japanese artists for the incredible neat clarity which all their works have. It is never boring and you never get the impression that they work in a hurry�" (Van Gogh and Japonisme). In one of van Gogh's better-known paintings, "Starry Night," the influence of the artistic styles of Japan is evident in the mixture of simple and elegant lines and fluid shapes. Even when van Gogh was not copying a Japanese print, the Japanese influence found a way onto his canvas. In his 25x19" painting of Pere Tanguy, a Parisian art supplier and picture dealer, he painted the subjects upper torso and head against a background of Japanese prints, indicating the Japanese influence. In this case, the function of the prints is just decorative. He also used Japanese objects in his drawings, such as a reed cut in the shape of a quill. After a two-year stay in Paris, van Gogh relocated to Arles in Southern France. Emotionally depressed, and ill from Parisian winters, he hoped to find a healthier environment in Provence, where he was the first artist to make Arles his base. In the South of France, van Gogh found similarities to Japan. From February 1888 to his death by suicide in May 1889, van Gogh achie

Category: Arts - J