Van Gogh’s Collection of Japanese Prints
- Art d'Histoire
- May 28
- 4 min read
Following the forced opening of Japan in 1854 and the subsequent signing of trade treaties, major American and European cities saw an influx of Japanese objects, sparking a curiosity that was at first discreet and later pervasive.
Vincent van Gogh began acquiring these images from the Land of the Rising Sun, first in Antwerp and then in great numbers in Paris.
He papered the walls of his studios and bedrooms with them and, as a former art dealer, planned to build a stock for future speculation. But beyond that, Vincent—who lived constantly among these images from 1885 onwards, although we lack evidence of this during his internment in St-Rémy—allowed himself to be extensively inspired by these compositions and colors from the other side of the world.
The Antwerp Beginnings: First Pinnings
His encounter with the Japanese print began in Antwerp during the final months of 1885. Van Gogh acquired a few, presumably in the shops of the port, and decided to pin them to the walls of his studio to make his environment more pleasant and cheerful. Even today, certain engravings from his stock bear the marks of needle punctures.
At that time, he formulated no analysis of the visual strangeness or the bold compositions of Japanese artists. He simply allowed himself to be entertained by the lightness of the subjects: female figures in gardens, horsemen, or flowering hawthorn branches.
He likely came across these curious images after the Antwerp World’s Fair, which concluded in early November 1885. While Japan had presented neither its own pavilion nor even a Japanese section, tea houses and delegations from the Netherlands had brought engravings. Once the event ended, these pieces were bought up and sold off cheaply by small curiosity shops near the port, where Vincent, while walking, made his first print purchases.
Systematic Wall Decorations: From Paris to Provence to Auvers
This habit of papering his living space endured.
Upon arriving in Paris, Vincent began by covering the room he occupied at his brother's home with what he wrongly called crépons, which were widely available in the capital.
In May 1888, in Arles, he found a small studio equipped with a "cabinet d'aissances"—for aisance (easement), but synonymous with essence or perfume—at the landlord's neighbour's, and planned to "en-wallpaper" the walls with "Japoneries." A spelling error or a play on words? Contemplating these delicate engravings might, through a kind of sensory transfer, heal or mask the foul odors of the conveniences in question.
In 1889, he hung two plates from Le Japon artistique, published by Bing, in his room at the Arles hospital, seeking to brighten the austerity of the walls.
And until his final days spent in the room at the Ravoux Inn in Auvers-sur-Oise, the walls remained covered with these prints, which Dr. Gachet's son later recovered.
The marks of these pinnings are still visible. For example, the print titled Sakawagawa River, Tōkaidō series, produced in 1863 by Utagawa Hiroshige II, retains needle puncture marks in the corners—silent witnesses to its hanging on the walls.
Paris: The Buying Frenzy
While the Belgian period marked a primary approach that was purely decorative, the Parisian stage revealed a frenzy of speculative acquisitions.
Van Gogh built up a vast stock, referred to as a "depot," mainly from the essential dealer Samuel Bing, whose attics on Rue Cauchoix were overflowing with tens of thousands of landscapes, figures, and old sheets.
The artist recounts having rummaged through these reserves, taking advantage of low prices. He went there assiduously, sometimes dealing with Lévy, the shop manager.
His meticulous accounting informs us that he spent barely a few sous per piece, acting as a speculator, anticipating that a minimal investment of a hundred francs would allow him to leave with a stock of over six hundred new engravings.
The former dealer thus resurfaced. He was convinced that the market for Japanese art would eventually dry up and that the value of his stock would rise over the years.
This "depot" also served as a bargaining chip. Nearly a hundred missing images were thus swapped with other artists, notably with the painter Émile Bernard, or else they were resold.
The Legacy of the Van Gogh Museum Highlighted
The collection of Japanese prints today numbers over five hundred pieces, preciously preserved by Johanna van Gogh-Bonger after the successive deaths of the two brothers.
The selection was certainly not always guided by strictly aesthetic criteria. The choices sometimes seem random, although a predominance emerges in favour of prints with saturated colours and a high number of bijin-ga.
The central panel of the 1854 triptych, titled Two Kneeling Attendants and One Standing Attendant, produced by Utagawa Kunisada, is among the notable acquisitions kept in the collection.
The entire collection was the subject of a digitisation campaign led by the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam following an exhibition organised in 2018.
Whether they were acquired for the purpose of speculation or simply to brighten his walls, Japanese prints largely influenced his art through their composition and colours, not to mention the Japanese inks whose lines he emulated in ink, pencil, and oil.
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