Looking east: Vincent van Gogh and Japan

Abstract

During the formative years of his life in Arles, Vincent van Gogh became deeply enamoured with the art of Japan. This vision, while short-lived, was crucial for the eventual flowering of his unique painting style. Therefore, it is vital for us to understand the Japanese aesthetics and philosophy hidden in his paintings. This article commences with a discussion on the origins of van Gogh’s Japonism interests, and then proceeds with an analysis of how this manifested itself in three periods of his ‘Japanese Era’, including where it drew on Japanese study, philosophy and utopia as well as paintings and prints. The visual analysis technique is widely utilised in this article to consider van Gogh’s paintings and the Japanese influences on their colour, line, texture and size. The research shows that van Gogh established a rich connection to Japanese aesthetics and created the largest numbers of masterpieces of his career in his ‘Japanese Era’.