How Japanese Art Influenced Vincent Van Gogh
If you are a fan of Vincent Van Gogh, you may have noticed strange elements that exist in his paintings. Hidden in corners of his paintings are certain “oriental” elements that seem out of place with what the audience would expect from a 19th-century European painter’s painting. In his most famous painting Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear, Van Gogh placed a painting of Japanese women in the background. It is rather strange to someone not familiar with art history that a Dutch Painter in the 19th century had elements of Japanese art in his own art.
However, this is not just a strange coincidence or a practical joke. What if I told you that Vincent Van Gogh was heavily influenced by Japanese art? The Japanese art style of Ukiyo-e was undoubtedly one of the most influential art styles of the 19th century in Europe.
Ukiyo-e
To understand the influence of Japanese art on Europe’s art scene, one must first understand the art style of Ukiyo-e. Ukiyo-e translates to “pictures of the floating world”. Ukiyo-e was an art style that became a prominent and popular art style in the Edo era. The Edo era is an era of Japanese history from the early 17th to late 19th century when Japan was united under the Tokugawa Shogunate in Edo (present-day…
