Van Gogh and Japan quiz

• Art and design
• Lower Secondary (Key Stage 3)
• Upper Secondary (Key Stage 4)

Introduction

Vincent van Gogh was inspired by Japanese prints. Through a video and six quiz questions about representation and design, the pupils explore what Vincent learned from Japanese prints.

Instructions

General learning objectives
- The pupils get to know about Vincent van Gogh
- The pupils will be able to identify and describe the impact of Japanese printmaking on the work of Van Gogh.

Materials required
- Mobile phones (optional)

Alternatives
To save time, one or more questions can be skipped.

Background information
More information about Van Gogh and Japan.

Van Gogh 

and Japan

QUIZ

Tell: Japanese printmaking was one of Vincent van Gogh’s biggest sources of inspiration. The prints taught him to look at the world differently. They helped to modernise his art.

See what Vincent learned from Japanese prints in the video on the next slide (2.11 mins long).

Tell: After the video there will be a short quiz with six questions about Van Gogh and Japan, so pay close attention.

Van Gogh and Japan

QUIZ

Artist Vincent van Gogh

Detail of Bridge in the Rain (after Hiroshige)

Date 1887

Collection Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam

Tell:  The quiz is in two parts: design and representation. There are six questions in total. Ask the pupils to get their phones out and go to the next slide.
If not all pupils have smartphones, they can work in pairs. The lesson can also be given without phones. Just untick the box “devices in the class”.

Design

Tell: The following questions are about the design of the works: composition, colour, technique, line, space and light.

Name the design elements these works have in common

Artist Vincent van Gogh
Title Woman Rocking the Cradle (Augustine Roulin)
Date 1889
Collection The Art Institute of Chicago, Helen Birch Bartlett Memorial Collection, 1926

Artist Toyohara Kunichika
Title Actor in Women's Role with Ragged Robins
Date 1867
Collection Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam

Give the pupils a moment to look at the pictures.
Move on to the next slide. The pupils can then answer using their phones.

Similarities

Answers
• Bright colours
• Flat planes of colour
• Thick contour lines
There are also similarities in terms of representation. That they are portraits, for example, and that there are large flowers in them.

What is Japanese about this?

Artist Vincent van Gogh

Title Dance Hall in Arles

Date 1888

Collection Musée d’Orsay, Paris

A. Diagonals
B. Bright colours
C. No horizon
D. Thick contours

Ask the pupils to work in pairs to identify what is Japanese about this work.

They can answer on the next slide.

What is Japanese about this?

1. Diagonals
2. Bright colours
3. No horizon
4. Thick contours

Tell the pupils that there is more than one good answer. Let them make their choice and discuss the answers.
Answer
All the answers are correct, although the diagonals in this painting are not immediately obvious.

In terms of composition, which word doesn’t belong?

A

Artist Vincent van Gogh

Title The Sower

Date 1888

Collection Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam

B

Artist Utagawa Hiroshige 

Title Sudden Evening Shower on the Great Bridge near Atake

Date 1857

Collection Collectie Alan Medaugh, New York

D

Artist Katsushika Hokusai
Title Snowy morning in Koishikawa
Date ca. 1830-1832
Collection Collection Dorhout

C

Artist Vincent van Gogh
Title Field with Irises near Arles
Date 1888
Collection Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam

Ask the pupils to answer the question in pairs.

The timer can be used for this.

Tell the pupils if necessary that this is about design.

The pupils can answer on the next slide.

In terms of composition, which word doesn’t belong?

1. The Sower
2. Sudden Evening Shower on the Great Bridge near Atake
3. Field with Irises near Arles
4. Morning in Koishikawa

Answer
D doesn’t belong here. The landscape’s composition is not cut through with a diagonal. (See the next slide for images.)

You can use the pictures on the next slide to discuss the answers.

A

B

C

D

Representation

Tell: The next questions are about representation: what the picture is of.

For which of these subjects was Vincent not inspired by Japan?

A

Artist Vincent van Gogh

Title The Raising of Lazarus (after Rembrandt)

Date 1890

Collection Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam

B

C

Artist Vincent van Gogh

Title Butterflies and Poppies

Date 1889

Collection Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam

D

Give the pupils a moment to answer the question.
They can input their answers on the next slide.

For which of these subjects was Vincent not inspired by Japan?

1. The Raising of Lazarus (after Rembrandt)
2. Entrance to a Quarry
3. Butterflies and Poppies
4. A Crab on its Back

Discuss the answers with the pupils.

Answer

The right answer is A. 

For this Bible scene, an essentially western subject, Vincent took his inspiration from a print by Rembrandt.

Artist Utagawa Hiroshige

Title Hakone: view of the Lake

Date ca. 1833-1834 

Collection Collection Dorhout

Artist Utagawa Hiroshige III

Title Water Hyacinth, Sandpiper and Kingfisher

Date 1871-1873

Collection Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam

Artist Utagawa Kunisada

Title A Crab on the seashore

Date ca. 1820-1825

Collection Rijksmuseum Amsterdam

Print after Rembrandt.

Show the pupils Vincent’s possible sources of inspiration. You can discuss the similarities and differences regarding both design and representation.

Which work was the most important source of inspiration for this painting?

C

B

A

Artist Katsushika Hokusai 

Title Bellflower and Dragonfly

Date 1833-1834

Collection Rijksmuseum Amsterdam

Tell: Vincent painted this flower piece when he lived in Paris. What was his direct source of inspiration?

The pupils should work out their answers in small groups, along with their reasons.

They can fill in their answers on the next slide.

Which work was the most important source of inspiration for this painting?

1. Bellflower and Dragonfly
2. Actor in Women's Role with Ragged Robins
3. Panel

Discuss the answers with the pupils.

Answer
C is the right answer. Vincent’s painting and the lacquer work both have a black background. The way the flowers are spread across the plane is also very similar.

On the next slide you will see what Vincent said about his source of inspiration.

Vincent van Gogh and Theo Bonger on Theo van Gogh (Aug 1886)

"a branch of white lilies — white, pink, green — against black, in the spirit of black Japanese lacquer8 inlaid with mother-of-pearl that you know" (letter 568).

Click on the letter icon to show the quote from Vincent.
Go to the next slide for the last question.

Vincent learned a lot from Japanese prints. What do you think the printmakers could have learned from him?

Tell: This is the last question.
Discuss the pupils’ answers and bring the lesson to a close.