Introduction

“Flowering Plum Orchard” is the second oil painting selected by Visconti from Van Gogh’s Japanese series. The artist made this painting in 1887 from a Japanese print by Hiroshige, called Plum Garden in Kameido.

“And we wouldn’t be able to study Japanese art, it seems to me, without becoming much happier and more cheerful, and it makes us return to nature, despite our education and our work in a world of convention.”

-Vincent Van Gogh, Letter to Theo, 24th September 1888

The ancient plum tree that was the subject of the original print had the poetic nickname of “the sleeping dragon plum tree”. Van Gogh accurately reproduced the composition with more intense colors replacing the black and grey of Hiroshige’s tree trunk with red and blue tones. He also added the two orange borders with Japanese characters for a decorative and exotic effect.

The collection has yellow gold plated metal fittings which add light to the red, green, and brown acrylic resin. The fountain pen kit comes with a new red ink called “Flowering Plum Orchard” and is available in fine, medium, and broad widths. A converter is included with each fountain pen. All three modes are accompanied by a bookmark showing a detail of the painting.