Père Tanguy was created between 1887 and 1888. It is now collected in Rodin Art Gallery in Paris. This painting is the masterpiece of Van Gogh during his Paris Period. The character is put in the center with the symmetrical composition. The Ukiyo-e paintings form the complex background, which is relative to the prospect figures. At the same time, the plane of the picture makes the tendency of shrinkage in the sense of space.
Père Tanguy
The portrait of Père Tanguy was made during Van Gogh's happiest time when he and Theo lived in Martel and he studied the painting in Fernando Komon’s studio. And he began to contact other Impressionist painters, such as Pissarro, Toulouse Lautrec, Emile Bernard, and made paintings with them. Beloved by these painters, Père Tanguy often went to join the party of Tang Juyi in Krause Street. Tang Juyi allowed him to credit goods or exchange canvas with material objects. Out of a warm-hearted gratitude for him, Van Gogh created this portrait. The painting style is lively with novel eye catching colors, which becomes the masterpiece of Vincent Van Gogh. The figure modeling is very concise and retains many characteristics of the artist's early style. The difference is that the colors are brighter and richer, integrating three primary colors of green, red and blue. With solid strokes, the painter meticulously outlines the eyes, jacket and facial contour of the human figure.
In late 1980s, the Japanese popular art business expanded day by day which had aroused great interest of the European art field. Many of the Japanese woodblock prints that Van Gogh has collected were purchased on Père Tanguy`s shop. He highly appreciated the clear and meaningful style of Japanese prints and admired its simple brush strokes which made paintings with the characteristics of landscapes. The background that Van Gogh made for Père Tanguy not only reproduced the scenery aside him, but also Van Gogh’s admiration for Japanese art. If carefully observed this painting, the Ukiyo-e prints behind Père Tanguy represented Van Gogh's love for Japanese Ukiyo-e which was embodied in the paintings of Van Gogh.
