Van Gogh & Japan
By: Louis van Tilborgh, Nienke Bakker, Cornelia Homburg, Tsukasa Kōdera, Chris Uhlenbeck, with a contribution by Claire Guitton
Contributors: Tilborgh, Louis van; Bakker, Nienke; Homburg, Cornelia; Kōdera, Tsukasa; Uhlenbeck, Chris; Guitton, Claire; Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam; Hokkaidōritsu Kindai Bijutsukan; Tōkyō-to Bijutsukan; Kyōto Kokuritsu Kindai Bijutsukan
Published: 2018
Language: eng
Number of pages: 200
ISBN-13: 9789462302204; 9789462301993; 9780300233261
Copyright date: 2018
Subjects: Japanese influences; Modern Painting; Exhibitions
Other titles: Van Gogh and Japan
Description: Vincent van Gogh's (1853-1890) encounter with Japanese ukiyo-e prints during his time in Paris was decisive for the direction that his art would take in the years to come. He enthusiastically assembled a collection of the prints with the idea of dealing in them, and soon was captivated by their colorful and cheerful imagery and style, which began to exert a dramatic influence on his own work. Gradually this enchanted world became his main artistic reference point. From then on, he positioned himself as an artist in the Japanese tradition in order to gain a reputation with the avant-garde of the day. This gorgeous publication offers a detailed reassessment of the impact Japanese printmaking had on Van Gogh's creative output. Featuring essays by the world's leading Van Gogh experts, this book details the ways in which the artist constructed his understanding of a Japanese aesthetic and his utopian ideal of a so-called primitive society, and incorporated these into his own vision and practice. The size, nature, and importance of Van Gogh's own collection of Japanese prints are also explored. Lavish illustrations include oil paintings and drawings by Van Gogh as well as a selection of the Japanese works that so captured his imagination.
Notes: Catalog accompanies the exhibition of the same name at Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, 23 March-24 June 2018, and previously seen at Hokkaidō Museum of Modern Art, Sapporo, 26 August-15 October 2017; Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, 24 October 2017-8 January 2018; The National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto, 20 January-4 March 2018.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 185-190) and index.