A Closer Look: Episode 8 - Utagawa Hiroshige vs Vincent van Gogh

Many of us are familiar with the impact of Japanese art on Western painting. After centuries of splendid isolation, Japan opened up to international trade again during the so-called Meiji Restoration, and a vogue for gold-painted screens, precious lacquerware, kimono and - of course - woodblock prints swept through the West in a wave of Japonisme.

In this episode of A Closer Look, Dr Nick Gordon and Dr Kathleen compare two key works from this dynamic moment of West-meets-East: Utagawa Hiroshige's magisterial print, The Residence with Plum Trees at Kameido, and Vincent van Gogh's Flowering Plum Tree (After Hiroshige). They explore what it was in the print that so inspired van Gogh, and how his work might transcend its origins as a close copy.

A print from the Brooklyn Museum and van Gogh's painting have been set side-by-side in greater detail here.

Kathleen Olive

Kathleen is one of Australia’s best-known cultural tour leaders, with over fifteen years’ experience leading tours to Western Europe, North America, Australasia and Japan. 
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NICK GORDON

Nick Gordon is a cultural historian with a University Medal and PhD from the University of Sydney, and significant expertise designing modern and contemporary art-focused tours to Western Europe, Asia and Australasia. He is also a practising artist.