Today was the inauguration day of an exposition in Auvers sur Oise north of Paris called " Iris et Japonisme " , emphasizing the relation between Vincent van Gogh , who spent time and painted here , and Japan . As Japan opened on the rest of the world in the 1860's , it took foreign culture in , but also brought inspiration to european artists . Shops in Paris imported japanese exotica , estamps and diverse objects. Pennyless artists sometimes recovered the wrapping papers used to protect the goods , as they were indeed real hand made art creations but considered of no value by the merchants ... The inauguration that pointed to the Iris place in Japanese art , exposed many japanese estamps and artifacts from the 19 th century , with works by Hiroshige , Gekko , Shuntei . The inaugural conference , in presence of the Ambassador of Japan Mr Hiroshi Hirabayashi and the president of the " conseil regional " was led by Ms Millon , a passionate 94 years old lady wich emphasized through a slide show of parallel Van Gogh and estamps works , the direct inspiration from Japan by Van Gogh .
