Van Gogh made a few paintings in Paris with direct Japanese influences. The background of Portrait of Pere Tanguy (1887-1888) is literally covered with Japanese prints and artwork. A Mt. Fuji painting looms above Tanguy’s hat, and he is flanked on both sides by prints of courtesans.
At this time van Gogh had an especially strong interest in Japonisme, collecting thousands of prints from which to study.
Plum Tree in Bloom (1887) is only one of three japonaiseries that he painted, the other two being The Courtesan (1887) and Bridge in the Rain (1887). It can be seen that he emphasized different colors in each one, all of them vibrant and bold. While The Courtesan contains a very strong yellow background that overpowers the dark and contrasting kimono, Plum Tree in Bloom emits mostly a deep red, from the sky and the trees to even the border that van Gogh creates for the japonaiserie. The steep transitions from red to yellow to green create a banding effect that vertically balances out the painting. As for Bridge in the Rain, the jade sea and the blue sky combine to give the gloomy feel of a rainy day, reinforced here again by a border of similar color.
Compared to the original Japanese copies, van Gogh’s are generally bolder in color. These japonaiseries seem to be made more for the study in colors, and how bold conflicts between them work with and against each other. The results of these experiments are seen in both self-portraits that van Gogh paints in Arles. The jade green appears in both of them, and perhaps symbolizes the madness with which he paints.