Face to face with Van Gogh

[Nomad-wino]

This weekend Emi and I went to Tokyo to visit the National Art Center, Tokyo. They had an exhibition of Impressionist and post Impressionist Masterpieces from the Washington National Gallery of Art. Frankly, I was not expecting much and instead I was blown away by the pieces on display. I jotted down a few of the most impressive (IMHO):

Claude Monet
“Woman with a Parasol”
“Madame Monet and Her Son”
“The Artist’s Garden at Vetheul”
“The Japanese Footbridge”

Pierre-Auguste Renoir
“The Dancer”
“Madame Henriot”

Paul Signac
“The Buoy”

Henri De Toulouse-Lautrec
“Fashionable People at Les Ambasssadeurs”

Paul Cezanne
“Still Life with Apples and Peaches”
“At the Waters Edge”

Paul Gauguin
“Breton Girls Dancing, Port-Aven”

And, now for the most unbelievably stunning pieces of the exhibition:

Vincent Van Gogh
“Roses”
“Self Portrait”

There I was, standing a mere 3 feet away from Van Gogh's self portrait; the feeling of history, art, the man himself were just flowing from the painting. No reproduction of this painting can do it justice – it is that incredible. You stare at him and he stares back; it was (for me) an emotional moment.

I have never felt more satisfied with a museum visit than I did that day (June 18, 2011).

Mike

[jspnrvr]

Thanks so much for sharing this, Mike. Such an experience can be so very powerful. I remember how I felt after seeing the King Tut exhibit a few years ago when it was in Ft Lauderdale. There were the gold objects and the casket and of course the famous burial mask/image, but my favorite item in the whole exhibit was a woven rattan chair. That thing was so tight and in such good shape, I could very well see it in anyone's Florida room or on their patio today. A plain straw chair, but it connected me to those people half a world and ages away.

[Jane]

The Detroit Institute of Art has some amazing pieces by these same artists, including another Van Gogh self-portrait. They are wonderful. I love that era of art.

[doctork]

I saw two similar exhibits at the DeYoung Museum in San Francisco last fall, the first visit was "The Impressionists" and the second visit was "The Post-Impressionists." Both were great exhibits composed of works from the Musee D'Orsay in Paris.

Interestingly there was an exhibit of Japanese impressionist paintings/prints at the Legion of Honor at the same time, which I also saw. At first I was surprised to see such impressionistic art work from the same era, but from Asia. Then I thought about it and realized that I own a Hiroshige print from that same era and it is quite "Japanese/French impressionist" in appearance.

Lots of artistic intermingling between Europe and Asia even more than 100 years ago.

[joew]

It's great that museums let things like these travel.

[BoatBabe]

Great stories, and a wonderful account of your trip, Mike!