I’m in Japan, here | Vincent Van Gogh said to his sister Willemien, Arles, september 1888
Vincent Van Gogh never visited Japan. Throughout his lifetime, he never once set foot in the counrty and never had the chance to see with his own two eyes the tradition and culture of the ukyo-e. The eastern prints that slowly started to emerge in the western market were what caught his eye, and he hopelessly fell in love with the colours and form of the Orient.
The great works of artists such as Utagawa Hiroshige influenced his work in later years, with the warm colours of the Arles countryside. It’s here that Van Gogh lived his “dream of the Orient”.
After the success of Loving Vincent and Van Gogh. Between the sky and grain, Nexo Digital is now presenting a new documentary entitled Vincent Van Gogh and Japan, which will open the new season of Great Art at the Cinema on the 16-17-18 of September 2019.
The documentary, directed by David Bickerstaff, journeys from Provence (in France) to Japan, passing through the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. It explores the theme of japonisme, and takes the viewer to the discovery of Tomoko Kawao‘s calligraphy art and Tatsumi Orimoto‘s performance art so that he/she may understand Japanese Art and how important it was to Van Gogh and his work.
As the director states: «The most amazing thing about working on a film about Van Gogh is discovering the abundance of intuitions which emerge from his letters or from admiring his works closely. You might think you know them, as they are renown, but each “viewing” reveals more detail and something new. The intensity of Van Gogh’s struggle can be seen in each brush stroke on the canvas. It was the search for simplicity which attracted Van Gogh towards to Japanese art».
Watch the trailer Van Gogh and Japan:
Find out more on Nexo Digital‘s official website.
Translated by Ludovica Sarti
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