The painting "Sunflowers" is the famous masterpiece of Vincent van Gogh

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

You don't need to be a connoisseur and art critic to remember the famous painting of the same name by the Dutch master Vincent van Gogh with the word "sunflowers". A series of works depicting this plant was the culminating development of the artist's work. Initially, the painting "Sunflowers" was written by the master in order to decorate his home in Arles in order to appear in a favorable light in front of his colleague and friend Paul Gauguin. The artist could not even think that in the future this work would become his hallmark, and the original painting would be kept in the National Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam.

Artist biography

Vincent van Gogh was born in the Netherlands, a country that gave rise to more than a dozen brilliant personalities in the field of art. His father and brother were priests, so the boy followed in their footsteps and, after graduating, went to serve in a church parish in the small Belgian town of Borinage.

The irrepressible thirst for justice and the ability to notice things hidden from the eyes of ordinary people made Vincent an ardent fighter for justice. Working and being surrounded by miners dying of fatigue and poverty, he simply could notto stay aside. Seeing the world in its true light, Van Gogh decides to devote himself to painting. Due to lack of livelihood and even less education, the novice artist was engaged in self-education, only occasionally falling into the hands of professional masters. To be fair, none of them believed in Vincent's abilities.

Why did sunflowers become the centerpiece of Van Gogh's art?

The first serious work of the artist was created by him based on life in a mining town and was called "Potato Eaters". However, his most famous painting is Sunflowers. According to biographical information about the artist, the happiest years of his life fell on the period of his residence in Arles. The nature of that town, the fields and the endless sun seriously inspired Vincent. It was then that the painting “Sunflowers” appeared, followed by a whole cycle of works depicting a flower in various studies.

The house in Arles was painted in the artist's favorite color - yellow, which, like a reflex, is reflected in all significant paintings by Van Gogh.

Inside the dwelling, the walls were white, which made the room even more sunny during the daytime. Vincent dreamed that his house would become a haven for artists who could hold creative gatherings and work on paintings here. The south of France inspired the impressionable Dutchman insanely! One day Vincent was expecting his confidante and good friend Paul Gauguin to visit. Wanting to decorate the room for his arrival, Vincent paints sunflowers for the first time. Working diligently to surprise his colleague with his creative success, Van Gogh writes inspirational letters to his brother Theo, in which he mentions his own passion for yellow and blue.

In August 1888, Vincent Van Gogh created five panels depicting sunflowers, but only three of them have survived to this day, and they are stored in London, Munich and Amsterdam.

Description of the painting "Sunflowers"

From the point of view of the classical canons of painting, Vincent van Gogh cannot boast of mastery. However, over the years of hard work, he developed a personal style of writing, which is reflected in his famous painting.

The picture "Sunflowers" completely absorbs the viewer's attention with its charismatic and large strokes. Visually, the vase looks small for huge and obstinate sunflowers. As for the latter, they seem to seek to penetrate beyond the canvas, exploring the world around them and striving for the sweeping rays of the sun. The texture of the picture attracts attention with its relief. The strokes are overflowing with emotions. One gets the impression that the artist was in a hurry to “pour himself” onto the canvas until he was carried away by a stormy fountain of sensual delight.

A closer look at the picture creates the illusion of dynamic sunflowers, as if they are swaying on stems under the dense weight of petals and inflorescences.

Beautiful yellow color

The painting "Sunflowers" is a clear proof that it did not matter to the artist whether the object was animated or not. Everything in the world was for him a single matter, which was worthy to come to life under his brush. Each elementVan Gogh's compositions had their own soul, which the artist portrayed through color and intense brushstrokes.

The sunflower in Vincent's work has become the quintessence of all things. This plant lived according to the laws of nature and, in its characteristic manner, reached for the sun's rays.

The importance of the flower in the mind of the artist did not diminish the fact that it outwardly resembled a solar disk with falling radiant petals. Van Gogh repeatedly mentioned that it is yellow that is the central element of the symphony of color. He embodied for him joy, hope, a smile - a complex of feelings and emotions that is difficult to convey in words.

Even years later, when the artist left his yellow house in Arles and moved to the streets of Paris, in his paintings, at the slightest hint of yellow, he tried to multiply it, to give it volume. All the works of Van Gogh, including his famous painting "Sunflowers", are filled with passion and excess of feelings. The artist deliberately simplified the shape of objects, focusing on their color characteristics. His palette of yellows makes it look like he opened his eyes wide and stared deep into the disk of the sun, exploring the fullness of light every time before applying a brushstroke.