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Opera House Presents Van Gogh & Japan

FREDONIA – The 1891 Fredonia Opera House will present Van Gogh & Japan, a special cinematic exploration of how the revered artist’s was influenced by Japanese art, today at 7 p.m. as part of its Art & Architecture On Screen Series.

Though Vincent Van Gogh never actually visited Japan, it is the country that had the most profound influence on him and his art. One cannot understand Van Gogh’s art without understanding how Japanese art arrived in Paris in the middle of the 19th century and the profound impact it had on artists like Monet, Degas and, above all, Van Gogh.

Visiting the new galleries of Japanese art in Paris and then creating his own image of Japan — through in-depth research, print collecting and detailed discussions with other artists — Van Gogh’s encounter with Japanese art gave his own work a new and exciting direction.

After leaving Paris for the south of France — to what he thought of as nearest to a kind of Japan as he could find — the productive and yet troubled years that followed must all be seen in the context of Van Gogh bending Japanese influences to his will and defining himself as a modern artist with clear Asian precursors.

In the exhibition on which this production is based — Van Gogh & Japan, at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam – we can see just how important his study of Japan was. This cinematic production travels not only to France and the Netherlands but also to Japan to further explore the remarkable heritage that so affected Van Gogh and made him the artist we know today. The production runs approximately one hour, 25 minutes.

Individual tickets to Van Gogh & Japan are $15, ($10 students). A special flexible subscription of eight tickets that can be used however you want – one at a time to eight different On Screen events, all at once for eight people, or anything in between – is $116. Tickets may be purchased in person at the Opera House Box Office or by phone at 679-1891, Tuesday-Friday, 1-5 p.m. Tickets may be purchased online anytime at fredopera.org.

The Art & Architecture Series is sponsored by Fredonia Place. Support also comes from the United Arts Appeal of Chautauqua County.

The 1891 Fredonia Opera House is a member-supported not-for-profit organization located in Village Hall in downtown Fredonia.

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