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Sunflowers

Vincent van Gogh · Post-Impressionism & Neo-Impressionism

Artist: Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890)
Date: 1888
Dimensions: 91 x 72 cm
Medium: Oil on canvas
Location: Neue Pinakothek, Munich, Germany

This still life shows twelve sunflowers in a simple earthenware vase against a pale turquoise background. Van Gogh painted it in Arles in August 1888, as one of a series meant to decorate the room of his friend Paul Gauguin in the Yellow House.

A closer look

The flowers are shown at every stage of life: some freshly opened, some in full bloom, others wilting and dropping their petals, a quiet reflection on time and decay. Van Gogh worked quickly, because the flowers faded fast, applying thick paint that gives the heads a sculptural texture. The yellow of the blooms and the yellow of the table glow against the cool background. For Van Gogh, yellow was the colour of the southern sun and of hope, and the sunflowers became his personal emblem.

History of the painting

The Munich Sunflowers were bought in 1912 for the Bavarian state collections through a fund created in memory of Hugo von Tschudi, the museum director who had championed French modern art in Germany against fierce opposition and died the year before. Many works bought this way were later declared 'degenerate' by the Nazis, but the Sunflowers remained in Munich and are among the treasures of the Neue Pinakothek.

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