Ando Utagawa Hiroshige, Tsuchiyama: Spring Rain, 1833-34, Color woodblock, ōban yoko-e, sheet: 9-5/8 x 14-5/8 in. (24.4 x 37.1 cm)

Last week, I visited The Clark Museum in Williamstown, MA to see both Van Gogh in Nature and Whistler’s Mother. Although I’d previously seen many of the Van Goghs on exhibit —most while visiting Amsterdam in the 90s— I thought this show was rather well curated and worth visiting on many levels.

Ando Utagawa Hiroshige’s Tsuchiyama: Spring Rain, positioned near Van Gogh’s Rain Auvers, was perhaps my favorite piece —other than works by Van Gogh himself— included in the exhibit. I enjoyed seeing the art that influenced Van Gogh, mixed in amongst his pieces. Artistic influences —from literature to companions— are key to understanding both the power of the paintings and the Van Gogh’s work in the larger, historical context.

I hope to go back again, before the exhibit closes on September 13th.

  Van Gogh, Rain at Auvers, 1890, oil on canvas 

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