Japanese art Influence on Van Gogh

In the 1862 Japanese art become more and more important than before, Mostly the woodblock prints. These where an inspiration of the post impressionist Monet, Degas, Gauguin and mostly Van Gogh. For Van Gogh the woodcuts where a big influence for him trough Japanese art. Then when he moved to Paris he was introduced  to the impressionism movement so he explored this movement and  Japonism. He used to love then bold designs with that focused colors, also he used to like pure and flat colors and simple lines.

When Van Gogh used to live next to the Bing Gallery and there where Japanese paintings for sale so he used to take a lot of inspiration. He used to go in the gallery and study the paintings and there techniques. Most of this work where ukiyo style so he become a collector of them.

The Hiroshige

He made two copies in the 1887 of  the Hiroshige  landscape,made with print making. One of the print was for the bridge , so he made a copy and made that scene woodcut. Then he filled up the border with the other prints. There was an other print that Van Gogh made was The Courtesan. In this piece he also made a frame with an influence of Japanese art. Most of the difference from the original work to the work of Van Gogh was that he used to make bold and brighter colors. 

The influence trough the work of Van Gogh still shows mostly in the prints, it reflect the culture by the outlines and the use of the black contours in the woodblock prints. It also make an effect  trough the bold colors that he use in his work.

Japonisme, Japonaiserie, Japanese Influence on Van Gogh . 2013.Japonisme, Japonaiserie, Japanese Influence on Van Gogh . [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.vangoghgallery.com/influences/japonisme.html. [Accessed 20 May 2013].