Van Gogh, Japan and Pokémon

• Art
• Design
• Lower Secondary (Key Stage 3)

Introduction

Vincent van Gogh was inspired by art from Japan. And in our time there are Japanese artists who are inspired by Vincent's work. The illustrators of Pokémon, for example!

Instructions

About the lesson

The lesson 'Van Gogh, Japan and Pokémon' is structured step-by-step. All questions, answers and additional information for the students can be found by clicking on the 'hotspots' in the slides. Additional instructions or background information for the teacher can be retrieved while teaching via the notes at the bottom of the slide.

Required materials

Printed copies of the various worksheets (see appendices).

Possible options for expanding the lesson

The relationship between Vincent van Gogh and Japan is further explained in the lessons Seeing with a Japanese eye, Vincent XL and A haiku for Van Gogh.

More about Pokémon: www.pokemon.com/uk

All images of Pokémon:

©2023 Pokémon / Nintendo / Creatures / GAME FREAK.

Worksheets

Worksheet Pokemon x Van Gogh Museum - Grey Felt Hat.pdf

Worksheet Pokemon x Van Gogh Museum - Orchards in Blossom.pdf

Worksheet Pokemon x Van Gogh Museum - The Yellow House.pdf

Worksheet Pokemon x Van Gogh Museum - Sunflowers.pdf

What will you be learning during this lesson?

You will discover:

• how the inspiration Vincent van Gogh drew from Japanese prints in the 19th century can be seen in his work.
• how today's illustrators from Pokémon drew inspiration from Vincent van Gogh's work.
• how to create your own Van Gogh Pokémon illustration.

Van Gogh, Japan & Pokémon:

 inspiration is timeless!

Vincent van Gogh drew inspiration from what he saw in the world around him. But he also drew inspiration from Japanese prints. These prints were widely available during his time in Paris, where he lived for two years. You will discover what is 'Japanese' about Vincent's painting Almond Blossom in the video on the next slide.

Van Gogh and Japan?

The video on the next slide illustrates how Vincent van Gogh was inspired by Japanese prints.

'And we wouldn’t be able to study Japanese art, it seems to me, without becoming much happier and more cheerful, and it makes us return to nature, despite our education and our work in a world of convention.'

Vincent in a letter to his brother Theo in september 1888.

This is the Japanese print Cherry Blossoms and Shrike, by Utagawa Hiroshige III (1834).

Write down three similarities and three differences between the print and Vincent's painting.

Which of these works appeals to you most? Why?

To create the painting on the right, Bridge in the Rain (made in 1887), Vincent clearly used a woodcut by the Japanese artist Hiroshige as an example. It's almost a copy.

If you want to delve deeper into the subject of Vincent van Gogh and Japan, you could expand this lesson with the lesson Seeing with a Japanese eye (15 mins.)

But... what do Van Gogh and Pokémon have to do with each other?!

Van Gogh and Pokémon

Now that it is clear what Vincent van Gogh and Japan have in common, it is time to elaborate on his relation to Pokémon.

Vincent was inspired by Japanese artists... and Pokémon illustrators by Vincent!

In his world-famous painting The Bedroom (1888) Vincent painted large, outlined areas in bright colours. He didn't use any shadows. Just like Japanese prints, as he wrote in a letter. Today, Pokémon illustrators are as much inspired by Van Gogh as he was by the Japanese artists that created the prints he collected.

The painting on the right is called Munchlax & Snorlax inspired by 'The Bedroom'. It was painted in 2022 by Pokémon illustrator sowsow. Vincent's painting inspired this new version 134 years after it was created. So you see: inspiration is timeless!

sowsow

Tomokazu Komiya

Naoyo Kimura

You can see these paintings for real in the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam until January 7, 2024.

Three Pokémon illustrators created six Van Gogh Pokémon paintings:

Choose one of the assignments from the next three slides

Create your own Van Gogh Pokémon!

Which Pokémon will you give Vincent's hat?

Illustrator Naoyo Kimura chose Pikachu.

But which

Pokémon

will YOU

choose?

Create your own Van Gogh Pokémon!

Choose which one of the three assignments on this and the following slides you want the pupils to work on. You can also let them choose one of the assignments for themselves. In that case, show all three slides. Provide sufficient copies of the different worksheets (see attachments).

Which Pokémon will YOU put in a Van Gogh painting?

Illustrator sowsow chose Munchlax and Snorlax.

But which

Pokémon

will YOU

choose?

Create your own Van Gogh Pokémon!

Which Pokémon will YOU hide in Vincent's sunflowers?

Illustrator Tomokazu Komiya chose Sunflora.

But which

Pokémon

will YOU

choose?

Create your own Van Gogh Pokémon!

Now that you have finished this lesson...

Now that you have finished this lesson you have learned:

• how the inspiration Vincent van Gogh drew from Japanese prints in the 19th century can be seen in his work;
• how today's illustrators from Pokémon drew inspiration from Vincent van Gogh's work;
• how to create your own Van Gogh Pokémon illustration.