Van Gogh’s Love Affair With Japan

The influence of Japanese prints on European art

Hakone (1833–34) from The Fifty-three Stations of the Tōkaidō series by Hiroshige. Woodblock print. Image source Wikimedia Commons

In the winter of 1886-87, Vincent van Gogh bought several hundred Japanese prints that he came across in the attic of an art dealer in Paris.

Japan held a magical and mystical significance for Van Gogh, despite having never visited the country. The prints he bought gave him a window onto a culture he…