Van Gogh never went to Japan. He created his own image of the country thanks to the Japanese prints he eagerly collected and closely studied. The colourful and exotic images greatly inspired him.

Van Gogh started to copy Japanese prints to better understand them. Doing so, he developed a 'Japanese eye' that would give his work a new direction. What was this Japanese way of looking? Discover more in the exhibition Van Gogh & Japan.

Van Gogh fell under the spell of Japanese printmaking in Paris, where he quickly purchased over 600 prints from a dealer. He hung them in his studio, so he could gradually absorb the influence of these colourful works. More than 100 Japanese prints from his collection are on view in the exhibition.