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Van Gogh & Japan

The movie ‘Van Gogh & Japan’ is coming to the cinema.

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Date: Sunday 24th November

Session time: 2:00pm

Come and join us if you want. No need to reply

… but check the date and time with the Cinema. Sometimes it changes at the last minute.

 

I envy the Japanese”  Van Gogh wrote to his brother Theo. In the exhibition on which this film is based – VAN GOGH & JAPAN at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam – one can see why. Though Vincent van Gogh never visited Japan it is the country that had the most profound influence on him and his art.

One cannot understand Van Gogh 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 artworks gave his work a new and exciting direction.

After leaving Paris for the south of France – to what he thought of as near 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 this little known story of Van Gogh’s art we see just how important his study of Japan was. The film 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 of today.

Rembrandt

The movie ‘Rembrandt’ is coming to the cinema.

REmb2Date: Sunday 29th September

Session time: 2:00pm

Come and join us if you want. No need to reply.

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Every Rembrandt exhibition is eagerly anticipated but this major new show hosted by London’s National Gallery and Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum was an event like no other. Given exclusive, privileged access to both galleries, the film documents this landmark exhibition whilst interweaving Rembrandt’s life story with behind-the-scenes preparations at these world famous institutions.

The exhibition focuses on the highlights from the final years of Rembrandt’s life, commonly thought to be his finest years. The masterpieces he produced during this period could be called his defining works, with each piece so soulful and honest that they helped sculpt our idea of Rembrandt as a man and as an artist.

This film explores each of the exhibition’s key works, through contributions from specially invited guests including curators and leading art historians. For many, Rembrandt is the greatest artist that ever lived and this film seeks to explore the truth about the man behind the legend.