ABOUT US
From 1873 to 1892, Julien Tanguy, an art supplie dealer, better known as “Père” Tanguy, ran a shop at 14 rue Clauzel in Paris. He was a key figure in the development of Impressionist art in France. Tanguy often sold struggling artists supplies on credit or in exchange for paintings. His shop and small gallery became a haven for young, Impressionist artists such as Van Gogh, Monet, Pissarro, Cézanne Gauguin, Lautrec and Renoir. Pere Tanguy was also one of the first to exhibit ukiyo-e (Japanese prints). Ukiyo-e became a major source of inspiration for these artists and “Japonisme” (the term for the influence of Japanese arts on those of the West) became a major trend into the 20th Century. Today, a Japanese gallery has opened in the same space as Père Tanguy’s old shop and gallery, reviving his memory by exhibiting Japanese prints there once again.
Ukiyo-e’s special features such as coloring, composition, motif, flat tint, depiction of nature were not seen in Western paintings of those days. The impressionist artists like Manet, Monet, Degas, Toulouse-Lautrec and others encountered ukiyo-e, and expressed their strong excitement in their paintings. Above all, Van Gogh faced ukiyo-e sincerely, devoted himself to Japan, and broke a new artistic ground which is called Japonism.
Van Gogh with his brother, Theo who was a picture dealer, collected ukiyo-e prints earnestly. Their collection reached about 480 works. Those prints are now possessed by the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. In the portrait of Old Tanguy who looked after Van Gogh very much, six ukiyo-e prints are painted. Back then, looking at those prints, Van Gogh would have enjoyed lively discussion with Old Tanguy on art.