Japanese Art and Van Gogh

I recently discovered how much Vincent Van Gogh was influenced by 19th-century Japanese artists (Keisai Eisen (left) and Ando Hiroshige). While I knew his fascination with the paintings of Millet, I had no idea that Van Gogh made his own versions of Japanese art. Picasso was quoted as saying, "Good artists copy, great artists steal."

Many Japanese murals were collaborations between multiple artists. Imagine how closely these artists had to work together to organize, compose, and arrange, to achieve a balanced, cohesive work of art.

Japanese and Chinese art is full of symbolism in the use of animals, birds, plants, and seasons.

I have yet to teach this as a composition topic, though I would want a project that could be done at table arrangements of 4-6 students. It could employ a small canvas with decoupaged deli papers similar to the Kindergarten project described in my other post.

The elements of Composition are balance, contrast, focus (emphasis), movement, pattern, unity, rhythm, and proportion.