You might think that these two prints are crafted from the Edo period by a Japanese hand, but in fact, these are oil paintings on canvas executed by the Impressionist master, Van Gogh (1853-90). 

These prints are of course copies of Hiroshige’s Plum Garden at Kameido and Sudden Shower over Ohasi Bridge. 

Van Gogh was a true Japanophile. He was an avid collector of Japanese prints and later in life became a dealer of these prints. So enamoured was he of these prints, that he wrote to his brother in September 1888:

“I envy the Japanese for the enormous clarity that pervades their work. It is never dull and never seems to have been made in haste. Their work is as simple as breathing and they draw a figure with a few well chosen lines with the same ease, as effortless as buttoning up one’s waistcoat….”

He meticulously copied Keisai Eisen’s print The Courtesan:

He actually saw this print in a magazine, Paris Illustré, and was so taken with it that he copied and enlarged it by tracing it on a grid. But his colour palette is brighter with bolder lines, by comparison with the original print. He also added Japanese motifs around the border of his portrait; many details are taken from works by Yoshimaru and Torakiyo. Van Gogh adds a tongue-in-cheek detail with the frogs in the border. In 19th Century France, prostitutes were referred to as grues or grenouilles (frogs).