On The Japanese Art Of Van Gogh

It is quite normal that artists can be influenced by some particular form of art, when they are trying to create a genre of art. Some art historians have noticed that Van Gogh was affected by Japanese art. In fact, there are two different views about this issue. One is given by scholars who are interested in his biographical information. In their books they like to mention that on the walls of Vincent's accommodation, there are many Ukiyoes; that Van Gogh used to express his admiration to Japanese art; that he copied several pieces of Japanese prints; and that he even used some Japanese elements when he was creating his own works. Another point of view is given by the scholars who are specialized in genre. They compare these two kinds of arts and abstract something similar. It seems to me that this research method has its drawback. Because it lacks concrete evidence to show that these two types of art have anything in common. Indeed, there are huge differences between these two forms of art when it comes to the types of art, material and the way that is produced. Therefore, it is inevitable that they keep quibbling over minor details.To what extent did Vincent Van Gogh affected by Ukiyoes? What are the periods of his art career influenced? And what are the Japanese elements that he used in his works? All these questions are either answered inspecifically or unanswered.The researches on how did the psychological problem influence Vincent's art and how did traditional art like Rembrandt, Miller, impressionism, and Divisionism, affect him, are given more attention comparing with the research on Japanese influence on Van Gogh. So the former research produces a more fruitful result. Consequently, it is not suprising that the Japanese elements seem to be insignificant when we look at Van Gogh's masterpiece.In this dissertation, I would like to give an insight into how Vincent's works are influenced by Japanese art and try to give a valid, and specific answer to those questions which used to be answered inspecifically or completely ignored by previous scholars.It is evidently a demanding job. The methods that I want to use to approach this project are through reading those original documents-the letters and analyze the visual elements in the works of Vincent to see if it is Japanese style.In the end, I find that Japanese prints did have profound influence on Vincent's works. The way that he embraced this Japanese art is just like the way he embraced the god, which was sincere and passionate, and that in the last three years of his life, he pursued his Japanese Utopia using his Japanese style of art. All in all, as Vincent said "All my work is to some extent based on Japanese art."...