| Vincent's Sunflowers | | | | widespread is the appeal of his sunflowers, |
| | | | in fact, that in 1987, a Japanese company |
| "The sunflower is mine in a way." Vincent van | | | | paid a record of the equivalent of almost 40 |
| Gogh | | | | million dollars for "Vase with Fifteen |
| | | | Sunflowers" at an auction. Van Gogh's many |
| Van Gogh's "Sunflowers" are among his most | | | | sunflower canvases are flung all over the |
| famous paintings, but few people realize he | | | | world in testimony to his mastery, now |
| did many sunflower pictures, not just the | | | | residing in art galleries in Europe, London |
| most famous "Vase with Twelve Sunflowers" and | | | | and Tokyo, to name a few. |
| "Vase with Fifteen Sunflowers." These were | | | | |
| canvases he made to decorate the Yellow House | | | | During his stay in Paris, Vincent hobnobbed |
| in Arles in anticipation of his friend Paul | | | | with some of the greatest Impressionist |
| Gauguin's visit, and in the hope that other | | | | painters of the period. The artists all had a |
| artists would follow and form a Utopian art | | | | great effect on one another, including van |
| community. Some of Vincent's sunflower | | | | Gogh, who was recognized as a formidable |
| paintings are all but indistinguishable, with | | | | genius by "Les Vingt," Monet and Toulouse |
| only tiny differences to prove one | | | | Lautrec, among others. One can readily |
| reproduction is different from the next. | | | | discern the Paris sunflowers from the ones |
| During his stay in Paris, he painted cut | | | | Vincent painted later, in the Yellow House at |
| sunflowers in different stages of being, from | | | | Arles, since they are cut flowers without |
| fresh to wilted to dry. | | | | vases. These cut sunflowers are depicted in |
| | | | various stages of wilting, but Vincent's |
| He appears to have brought his passion for | | | | final bright and bold color palette is |
| sunflowers with him from his homeland in | | | | evident at this point in his artistic |
| Holland wherever he roamed, and indeed, they | | | | development, permeating the pictures with |
| make the kind of dramatic subject he loved. | | | | life and joy. |
| Around the world today, the sunflower is | | | | |
| synonymous with Vincent's work, immediately | | | | The master's influence on western art and |
| recognizable and every bit as much his own as | | | | artists cannot be overstated. His work |
| the water lilies belonging to Monet. | | | | bridged impressionism, expressionism, cubism |
| | | | and more with a unique language understood by |
| Vincent's "Sunflowers No. 2," the most famous | | | | all lovers of beauty and truth. The enormous |
| sunflower still life, yellow on yellow, | | | | popularity of a simple vase of sunflowers |
| possesses the same universal appeal and | | | | attests to his power and sincerity. |
| impact of all his most beloved pictures. So | | | | |