Vincent van Gogh owned a large number of Japanese prints. Find out more about his collection: discover why he collected these prints, where did he get them and what kind of prints he preferred.
In the winter of 1886–87, Vincent van Gogh bought 660 woodcuts from the Parisian art dealer Siegfried Bing. In the attic of his gallery Van Gogh was able to browse the thousands of Japanese prints Bing offered for sale at low prices.
Van Gogh did not pick out the best-known or most expensive works. He preferred prints with bright colours and attractive motifs, such as geishas in kimonos and exotic landscapes.
Van Gogh most likely bought the Japanese woodcuts on a whim. He intended to start trading in the prints. When nothing came of this plan he began to study them more closely in the course of 1887.
In the autumn of that year, he painted three copies of prints in his collection. He also worked them into the background of his portraits. The art of the future, Van Gogh was convinced, had to be colourful and joyous, just like Japanese printmaking.
Utagawa Hiroshige, The Residence with Plum Trees at Kameido, from the series One Hundred Views of Famous Places in Edo, 1857
Vincent van Gogh, Flowering Plum Orchard (after Hiroshige), 1887
Vincent van Gogh, Courtesan (after Eisen), 1887
Vincent van Gogh, Bridge in the Rain (after Hiroshige), 1887
Vincent van Gogh, Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear, 0
Vincent van Gogh, Portrait of Père Tanguy, 0
Vincent surrounded himself with his Japanese prints in the Paris apartment he shared with his brother Theo. He pinned them to the walls of his studio, leaving holes that can still be seen today in a surprisingly large number of them. Some even have paint or oil stains. Zoom in on the corners of the prints to see these traces of use.
Van Gogh also had the prints lying around as he worked. Although he moved house regularly, he always took a number of them with him. Having the prints close at hand enabled him to study them ‘calmly and at length’.
After a year or so, he no longer needed them to see the world ‘with a more Japanese eye’. Van Gogh used stylistic features of Japanese art in his own work. From 1888 and his time in Arles (southern France) onwards, his compositions became flatter, more intense in colour, with clear lines and decorative patterns
Vincent van Gogh, The Sower, 1888
Vincent van Gogh, Almond Blossom, 1890
Vincent van Gogh, Carafe and Dish with Citrus Fruit, 1887
Theo and later his widow, Jo van Gogh-Bonger, took good care of Vincent’s Japanese prints, so that the majority of them eventually found their way into the Van Gogh Museum.
Some of his prints have gone missing and ended up in other parts of the world.
