Sunflowers by Vincent van Gogh - January 1889 - 95 cm x 73 cm Van Gogh Museum Sunflowers by Vincent van Gogh - January 1889 - 95 cm x 73 cm Van Gogh Museum

Sunflowers

oil on canvas • 95 cm x 73 cm
  • Vincent van Gogh - March 30, 1853 - July 29, 1890 Vincent van Gogh January 1889

We have a special announcement for you: May 2020 in DailyArt will be devoted to one of the greatest painters in art history, the one who had a very difficult life but at the same time created one of the most uplifting, colorful, and beautiful paintings. Yes, we mean Vincent van Gogh! Thanks to our cooperation with the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, every Sunday in May we will present a van Gogh masterpiece from its collection. ENJOY!

Van Gogh’s paintings of sunflowers are among his most famous. He did them in Arles, in the south of France, in 1888 and 1889. Vincent painted a total of five large canvases with sunflowers in a vase, with three shades of yellow "and nothing else." In this way, he demonstrated that it was possible to create an image with numerous variations of a single color, without any loss of eloquence.

The sunflower paintings had a special significance for Van Gogh: they communicated "gratitude," he wrote. He hung the first two in the room of his friend, the painter Paul Gauguin, who came to live with him for a while in the Yellow House. Gauguin was impressed by the sunflowers, which he thought were "completely Vincent." Van Gogh had already painted a new version during his friend’s stay and Gauguin later asked for one as a gift, which Vincent was reluctant to give him. He later produced two loose copies, however, one of which is now in the Van Gogh Museum.

We also offer two interesting YouTube videos created by the museum: 5 Surprising facts about Vincent van Gogh's Sunflowers and How to preserve a 130 year old painting | Van Gogh and the Sunflowers.

We hope that with this absolute classic we have cheered you up a little in these dark times!

P.S. During past years The Sunflowers underwent conservation treatments. DailyArt Magazine managed to ask the research team a few questions, read the interview here!

P.P.S. Today Justyna, who for the past 6 years has been responsible for most of our partnerships with museums and DailyArt social media (do you follow them? Facebook/Twitter/Instagram?) is having a birthday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY! :)