Vincent van Gogh painted two separate series of works focused on sunflowers. The first series was painted in Paris during 1887 while van Gogh was living with his brother, and it consists of four paintings of the flowers lying on the ground. The Paris series is the first time van Gogh would paint only sunflowers, although he had previously included them in still lifes featuring a variety of flowers. Van Gogh painted the second series while living in Arles in 1888; these paintings depict a bouquet of sunflowers in a vase.
The Arles period was a happy one in van Gogh's life, and that happiness comes through in the bright yellow flowers with their strong brush strokes. The Arles series was painted to decorate the guest room of fellow painter Paul Gauguin, and these works are first mentioned in a letter by van Gogh to his brother, Theo, in August 1888. Four paintings in the series would be completed in August. Van Gogh invited Gaguin to Arles because he hoped to set up an artist commune with Gaguin as the senior artist in residence. Gaguin had purchased some of the Paris series before visiting Arles, and van Gogh hoped to please him with these new studies of sunflowers (later, Gaguin would ask to exchange his Paris series paintings for some from the Arles series, but van Gogh refused). Van Gogh completed the final four paintings in the Arles series in January 1889. He chose two of the Arles sunflower paintings for a major exhibition in 1890.
Van Gogh took great pride in the Arles series and kept two of them for his personal collection. The desirability of the paintings only increased after van Gogh's death. A painting from the Arles series sold in 1987 for $39,921,750; this painting currently resides in Tokyo at the Seiji Togo Yasuda Memorial Museum of Modern Art. Gaguin's Paris series paintings went through a number of different owners, including fellow artist Edgar Degas, before being bequeathed to New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art. One of the Arles series is on permanent loan to London's National Gallery. It is one of the most popular paintings at the gallery and is also the most reproduced painting there, with posters, mugs, tea towels, and notepads emblazoned with a picture of van Gogh's favorite painting available for purchase.
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Life and Work
Although highly identified with French painters, Vincent van Gogh was Dutch. He was born on March 30, 1853, to an upper-middle-class family. His first job was as an art dealer, but after a battle with depression, he moved to London and became involved with religious work. He would spend time as a missionary while battling both mental and physical ailments until his poor health forced him to move back in with his parents. His brother, Theo, financially supported him, and van Gogh began experimenting with painting. During this time, he also had an unsuccessful romance with the daughter of his parents' neighbors. Neither family approved of the match, and following the young woman's attempt on her life, van Gogh left home again.
Van Gogh moved to Paris in 1886. He soon met and befriended other young painters, including Emile Bernard and Paul Gauguin. Both of these men's work was a reaction against the Impressionist artists of the previous generation and influenced van Gogh as he began experimenting with his own technique. During his career as an artist, van Gogh produced 2,100 works of art, including 860 oil paintings. Most of these were painted during the last two years of his life. Van Gogh experimented with landscapes, portraits, self-portraits, and still lifes. His post-impressionistic style included bright colors and expressive, bold brushstrokes. His new approach included paintings of sunflowers, wheat fields, and olive trees inspired by a summer spent in Arles, France.
Although he was highly productive, van Gogh's health was an ongoing issue. His physical issues were exacerbated by his poor diet and heavy drinking, and he continued to struggle with mental health problems. In a rage, he cut off part of his left ear with a razor. Gaguin was with him at the time, and the episode ended their friendship. Van Gogh was a patient in psychiatric hospitals multiple times. After his last hospital stay, van Gogh moved to a Parisian suburb and attempted treatment with a homeopathic doctor. He died by suicide on July 27, 1890, at the age of 37.
Van Gogh was not a financially successful artist during his lifetime, and his mental health issues cost him opportunities to build his reputation in the art world. His brother Theo died the year after van Gogh, and so ultimately, it was his sister-in-law, Johanna Gezina "Jo" van Gogh, who helped make Vincent van Gogh famous. After Theo van Gogh died, Johanna was left with a baby and no money, but she did have an apartment full of Vincent van Gogh's paintings. She took her child and the paintings back to the Netherlands, where she began reaching out to people she knew in the art world. She sent artwork to various exhibitions, translated Vincent's letters, and wrote a history of the van Gogh family, and her work sowed the seeds of van Gogh's continuing popularity. The core of his collection, which she never let out of family control, forms the basis of the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam today.
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Van Gogh's Legacy
Vincent van Gogh and his paintings of sunflowers continue to have a broad influence in Western culture. Schoolchildren often study van Gogh, learning about his life and his distinctive painting style. Often, this study includes determining how the impressionists who came before van Gogh influenced his art and how van Gogh influenced the artists who came after him, like Pablo Picasso. His enduring popularity has also meant that his paintings of sunflowers have often been loaned out from their home museums to other museums around the world. Multiple movies have also been made about van Gogh's life, and each filmmaker brings their own perspective to the subject and offers new insight into van Gogh's life.
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This article was published by Chad Kremp
