Non-Western Arts, Essay Example

Introduction

The influence of ukiyo-e on the Sunflower collection of Vincent Van Gogh was examined in this essay. The style and the cultural background of ukiyo-e was explored. The influence that it produced on the works of art of Vincent van Gogh subsequent to his visit to Japan was explored. The two western visual art works which were explored are Vase with Twelve Sunflowers and the Vase with Five Sunflowers had been reviewed in this research with regards to the influence that Japanese ukiyo-e exerted on Vincent van Gogh’s artistic perception. The works of Bailey (2013), Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art (2013), Harris (2013), van Gogh (2008) and Van Gogh Galleries (2013, 2015) were accessed in this research.

Ukiyo-e

Ukiyo-e was a style of Japanese visual art that was detailed as being depictions of the floating environment. The ukiyo-e applied wooden planks in order to portray entertainment quarters, historical occurrences and landscapes. The genre of visual art which is acknowledged as ukiyo-e was well established in Tokyo. One of the most famous ukiyo-e artists, Utagawa Hiroshige popularized the ukiyo-e visual art form.  Hiroshige lived and created visual art during the first half of the nineteenth century. The colors that were applied in the ukiyo-e form were vivid and varied. One of the most well acknowledged collections that had been created by Utagawa Hiroshige was the collection which is titled: One Hundred Famous Views of Edo (Van Gogh 19).

Hiroshige was very detailed in his visual art depictions. Hiroshige applied the Japanese cultural differences in order to distinguish between the appearances of the people. The subjects which were painted by Hiroshige were prostitutes, ordinary women and geisha.  In addition, Hiroshige painted landscapes and historical occurrences. The colors that were applied in order to portray the subjects in the ukiyo-e visual arts forms were very vivid in comparison to the European art. The works of Vincent van Gogh were influenced by the ukiyo-e a visual art which was depicted by Hiroshige (van Gogh 20).

Correlation between Ukiyo-e Visual Art and the Western Visual Art Forms

Around the 1850s, subsequent to Commodore Matthew Perry creating a route from the west to Japan, the people of the west were enchanted by the fine visual arts which had been depicted in a number of exhibits in Europe and the Americas. The European artists were seeking a new approach, new tonal palettes and a new dimension of presenting visual arts. Ukiyo-e profoundly influenced the impressionists and the creators of art nouveau (Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art 1; Harris 14).

The ukiyo-e depictions were primarily prints which were produced in a four stage process. The artists designed the wood blocks which were used in order to transmit the images on the paper medium. The wood worker was implemented in order to create the blocks in accordance with the artist’s design. The printer subsequently placed the ink colors on the block by hand. After all was completed, a publishing community provided financing and distribution of the prints that were made in this process (Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art 1; Harris 14).

Vincent Van Gogh and the Sunflower Collection

After returning from Japan, Vincent Van Gogh embarked on creating a collection of sunflower paintings in order to make a good impression on his friend, Paul Gauguin. Van Gogh planned to create a collection of paintings for his art studio in Arles which focused on the theme of sunflowers. Van Gogh wanted the paintings to be vivid. His plan was to bestow the paintings with bright and vivid colors, which were similar to the colors that he observed in the ukiyo-e visual art form. In order to impress his friend, Van Gogh planned to use the most vivid colors to depict the sunflowers (Bailey 8).

These colors ranged from royal blue, to malachite green to chrome based yellow colors. His plan was to create works which depicted large sunflowers. The colors were to be orchestrated from royal blue to chrome based yellow. Although Van Gogh initially planned to create more than a dozen of these visual works of art. Van Gogh hastily started to create the sunflower collection in anticipation of the arrival of his friend, Paul Gauguin (Bailey 8).

The distinctions in the pieces created by Vincent van Gogh in the sunflower collection are found in the details. There are similarities which are transmitted from each of the pieces. The hues and the colors which were applied are lively and are an excellent portrayal of depicting the life cycles of the sunflowers (Van Gogh Galleries 1). The chromium yellows are applied in order to depict the sunflowers in the blooming stages. The dark brown hues are applied in order to show the sunflowers during their wilting stages. These dichotomies are intermingled and presented as opiates on the canvas. The post-impressionist technique is what makes the paintings more attractive. The stages of life are decocted in each of the pieces in Van Gogh’s sunflower collection.

In each of the sunflower paintings, Van Gogh used massive opaque vases. The extensive stems of the sunflowers appear to become smaller in the large vases. Van Gogh attained equilibrium in his paintings by enabling the flowers to gently touch the sides of the vase. In all of the paintings in Van Gogh’s sunflower collection, the vase is located at the center bottom part of the canvas.

In the paintings of the sunflower collection which were painted by van Gogh, van Gogh applies an amazing variance of techniques. These variances range from using wide strokes in order to provide a sculptural effect to using the most minuscule pointillist dots. Van Gogh applied what he had learned from Hiroshige in order to create a new genre of painting. Many of the primary rules which were followed during the era in which the pieces of the Van Gogh’s sunflower collection were created violate the norms which has been established (Bailey 19).

The theories of color which were implemented by the impressionist taught that in order to provide an intensive quality to the colors, the colors which are opposites should be positioned next to one another. An example of this would be to place chromium yellow next to malachite green. Van Gogh conducted experimentation with regards to what he had learned during his trip to Japan (Bailey 20).

Initially, van Gogh placed the flowers against a royal blue background. The more recent versions depict the flowers which are pained in yellow, located upon a table which is yellow. The effect that is provided in this use of bright and vivid colors is to cause the painting to generate light by its reflection of the yellow hues. Van Gogh’s intention was not to precisely replicate the flowers in his paintings. Van Gogh’s objective was not only to apply the colors in order to demonstrate emotion, he applied the colors in order to convey affective states (Bailey 20).

In van Gogh’s perception, the sunflowers which he painted were not only associated with decoration, they represented devotion and continuous adoration. Van Gogh applied the chromium yellow paint in order to provide the sunflowers with the appearance of being small suns. The sunflower paintings were perceived by many to be Vincent van Gogh’s best endeavors in post- impressionist art.  The detail that was placed in the painting of the sunflower collection demonstrate the depth of the bonds of friendship that were present between van Gogh and Gauguin (Bailey 20).

Van Gogh was aspiring to develop a fellowship of artists with the arrival of Paul Gauguin in Arles. He received Gauguin in his home subsequent to the painting of the sunflower collection. Paul Gauguin was so impressed by the paintings, he requested that Van Gogh give him two paintings in exchange for two of his art pieces. Van Gogh believed that he was the proprietary owner of the style that was developed in his composition of the sunflower paintings.  There is no other floral arrangement that is connected with any artist as the paintings which are components of the sunflower collection (Bailey 21).

 Conclusion

The influences of ukiyo-e were quite pronounced in van Gogh’s work. Van Gogh was impressed by the vivid colors that were applied by Hiroshige in the Japanese ukiyo-e prints that were created. The colors that were applied by van Gogh subsequent to his encounter with the Japanese culture demonstrates that his perception of color changed after the trip. The sunflowers are a direct outcome of the influence of Japanese art on the perception of Western visual artists.

Works Cited

Bailey, Martin. The sunflowers are mine: The story of van Gogh’s Masterpiece. London, UK: Frances Lincoln Limited, 2013. Print.

Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art. “Encountering the floating world: Ukiyo-e and the west.” Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, 2013. Web. 11 April 2015. http://museum.cornell.edu/exhibitions/encountering-the-floating-world-ukiyo-e-and-the-west.htm

Harris, Frederick. Ukiyo-e: The art of the Japanese print. Rutland, VT: Tuttle Publishing, 2013. Print.

van Gogh, Vincent. Van Gogh and the Colors of the Night. New York, NY: Museum of Modern Art, 2008. Print.

van Gogh Galleries. “The Paintings Still Life: Vase with Five Sunflowers.” The van Gogh Galleries, 2015. Web. 11 April 2015. http://www.vggallery.com/painting/p_0459.htm

van Gogh Galleries. “Vincent van Gogh: Sunflowers.” Van Gogh Galleries, 2013. Web. 11 April 2015. http://www.vangoghgallery.com/painting/sunflowerindex.html.