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Many late-nineteenth century artists became fascinated with Japanese woodblock prints and began producing works influenced by the Japanese art. The term Japonisme refers to those Japanese-inspired works, including paintings by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Vincent van Gogh, Camille Pissarro, and Gustav Klimt. Today I present to you two works of art—the woodblock print “Iris Flowers and Grasshopper” by Hokusai and Vincent van Gogh’s painting, “Irises”—and a comparison of the two great artists.
1. While Vincent van Gogh only lived to be 37, Hokusai’s most important works were painted well past that age. “Of all I drew prior to the age of 70 there is truly nothing of any great note,” wrote Hokusai at age 74.
2. Roger Zelazny’s short story, “24 views of Mt. Fuji, by Hokusai,” was inspired by Hokusai. The ballad “Vincent,” by Don McLean, was inspired by Vincent van Gogh and includes the lines, “Starry, starry night / Paint your palette blue and gray.”
3. Just as many of van Gogh’s works were influenced by Japanese works, including those of Hokusai, his own work has influenced many other artists’ work. Several paintings by Francis Bacon were based on van Gogh’s “The Painter on his Way to Work.”
4. Both Hokusai and van Gogh worked until the end. One of van Gogh’s works was painted only 6 weeks before his death. Hokusai, at the age of 89, remarked on his deathbed, “If I had another five years, even, I could have become a real painter.”
5. Hokusai employed many names, often related to changes in his work. Van Gogh, however, might have benefited from adopting a different name, as his name also belonged to several other members of his family: his grandfather, his stillborn older brother, his uncle (an art dealer), and his grandfather’s uncle (a sculptor).
6. The most famous of Hokusai’s work is, undoubtedly, “The Great Wave off Kanagawa.” Vincent van Gogh’s famous works include “The Starry Night,” “Sunflowers,” and “Irises.”
A larger version of “Irises” is available here; a larger version of “Iris Flowers and Grasshopper” is available here.
‘Feel Art Again’ appears every Tuesday and Thursday.
its crazy to think that a lot of the ukiyoe prints were brought to artist’s attention because they were used as wrapping paper to mail other goods by the Japanese!
eep!
posted by Lauren on 1-15-2008 at 8:15 am
Excellent post as always! Woodblock has always fascinated me as a medium. I’d like to just throw out there that anyone who has not had the good fortune to see a van Gogh in person should make a concerted effort to do so - it stunned me the first time I saw an original what a completely different experience it was from seeing a print. The way that he layered paint gives a 3D quality to his work that prints just can’t convey.
posted by Roger on 1-15-2008 at 8:31 am
I wouldn’t consider myself an art lover, yet I always look forward to this blog. I guess its a good way for people like me to feel connected to art. Thank you!
posted by deena on 1-15-2008 at 9:39 am
I love van Gogh, and I particularly love Irises… both the painting and the real things. (In fact, I have a glass cutting board in my kitchen that features this painting, but that sounds rather tacky…) Roger, I’ve not had the privilege to see Irises or any other van Gogh in person. I guess that’s on my to-do list now!
posted by Therese on 1-15-2008 at 9:41 am
I have been totally fascinated by Van Gogh since i was in 10th grade in high school. Don Mclean’s “Starry, Starry Night” was mostly responsible for introducing me (bonus question- What song was on the “A” side of the 45 record) to VVG. A few years ago I was in NYC and went to the MMoA and saw the Van Gogh collection in person. I was stunned! The works literally jump off the canvas with detail seen up close and at a distance show such depth of emotion, I could almost feel his presence as if he were still painting. I have even dressed as the painter for Halloween, as I have a fair resemblance to “Fou Roux”. I would also suggest Irving Stone’s biogaphical novel “Lust for Life” as a primer on Van Gogh.
“Now I understand, what you tried to say to me…..”
posted by bertbaker on 1-15-2008 at 10:47 am
Yes to Roger’s point, and I would also say the same for Claude Monet’s wonderful paintings. They just convey more when you gaze upon an original.
posted by Johnny Cat on 1-15-2008 at 11:30 am
The entire art nouveaux movement was inspired by Japanese art. There was a surge of decorative arts very much reminiscent of Japanese decor. Especially Tiffany.
I love this blog. I went to art school and this is the way art history should have been. Instead, I got hot, dark rooms filled with dry data that instantly put me to sleep.
posted by witetra33it on 1-15-2008 at 12:42 pm
One of the highlights of my trip to Amsterdam was a visit to the Van Gough museum.
It really would be great if you had links to larger images in your ‘Feel Art Again’ series. The thumbnails are so tiny, that it’s hard to really appreciate the works.
posted by Stew on 1-15-2008 at 1:02 pm
I’m glad you all are enjoying the series! I’m always open to suggestions, so if you know of any great art that hasn’t gotten the attention it deserves, let me know.
Stew: I try, as often as possible, to include links to larger versions. (I put them at the end of the post, like the two for today.) Sometimes, though, the version we post is the largest I can find.
posted by Andréa on 1-15-2008 at 3:47 pm
Andrea,
Can you put something together about Mondrian? He is interesting.
thanks
posted by pjl on 1-15-2008 at 4:01 pm
pjl: I’ll look into it. We try to stick to pre-1900 artwork, to avoid copyright issues, but we might be able to do a Mondrian.
posted by Andréa on 1-15-2008 at 4:10 pm
I’m such a fan of Van Gogh! My husband and I have a huge replication of Starry Night in our house and I certainly will be going to the Van Gogh museum before I leave Europe.
And speaking of requests… I know it’s a few months off but I saw a documentary on the 3rd of May by Goya and thought it would be fitting on said date.
posted by tricia on 1-15-2008 at 11:16 pm
tricia: Good idea! I’ll keep it in mind.
posted by Andréa on 1-15-2008 at 11:41 pm
Thanks for the great post.
One of my favorite (much underrated, I think) artist is Raoul Dufy. It would be interesting to put forward lesser-known artist for further posts as well.
posted by cinthya on 1-16-2008 at 5:23 am
this is great, Andréa! i spend all day every day dealing with this subject! another neat thing to try doing with van gogh’s paintings is to try to match up the prints in the background on the wall with the original prints. not easy, though. i think i only found one!
(by the way, i think raoul dufy was also very influenced by japonisme, particularly in his design of fabrics)
i’m so glad i discovered you and i love all of the correspondences that you draw. thank you.
posted by lotusgreen on 1-16-2008 at 10:29 am
cinthya: I’ve added him to my list of possible posts.
lotusgreen: Great idea!
posted by Andréa on 1-16-2008 at 1:50 pm