Exhibit links Van Gogh, Japan

The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam opens an exhibition this week showing the influence of Japanese art on the 19th century Dutch painter.

“Japanese Season” features artifacts from Japan similar to what Vincent van Gogh might have seen when they were exhibited in Amsterdam in 1883.

Afterward, Van Gogh became a collector of Japanese prints and often wrote to his brother, Theo, about his desire to infuse the motifs into his own artwork.

For the exhibition, curators have placed Van Gogh’s paintings near Japanese pieces, showing where themes are similar.

“The beauty is that Japan’s culture is based on the love of nature and Van Gogh’s art is based on the love of nature and that’s where the two merge,” said Nasser David Khalili, a British-based scholar who lent part of his own collection to make the exhibition possible.

Khalili donated 200 pieces of Japanese art made between 1868 and 1912.