Eleven still lifes with sunflowers

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

Van Gogh's work is quite easy to distinguish from others. The artist had a unique style that distinguishes his canvases from others. His works "Starry Night" and "Sunflowers" gained worldwide fame. We will talk about the latter. But who knows how many "Sunflowers" there were?

Paris Cycle

Some may be surprised by the fact that "Sunflowers" is not one picture, but a cycle. Work on still lifes with sunflowers is traditionally divided into three stages. The artist painted the first series in Paris in 1887. Later it was called Parisian. This cycle of paintings depicts lying flowers of sunflowers.

Arles series

Van Gogh returned to the topic of still lifes with sunflowers a year later, in Arles. This time the artist depicted a lush bouquet of flowers in a vase.

While working on this canvas, Van Gogh was impressed by the beauty of nature. He wanted to create something bright, light, joyful. Two canvases were intended for Paul Gauguin, an associate of Van Gogh. Vincent wrote thesepictures just before the meeting. He wanted to impress his friend, which he managed to do. On one of his canvases, Paul Gauguin depicted Vincent painting his famous sunflowers.

Creating this series, Van Gogh used a special painting technique - impasto. This technique is notable for the fact that during the work not only brushes are used, but also a knife. As a result, the surface of the canvas becomes embossed and rough.

Third cycle

After Vincent left Arles, he began to create copies of "Sunflowers", bringing some changes to them. In 2014, visitors to the National Gallery in London had the unique opportunity to compare two still life paintings of sunflowers. The first is the original, written in 1888, the second is a copy of 1889, which the artist created in Paris. Gallery visitors immediately noted that the copy was brighter than the original.

Where can you see "Sunflowers" now?

Still lifes belonging to the Arles series can be seen in the London National Gallery, as well as in the Neue Pinakothek in Munich. These are paintings painted in 1888. Paintings belonging to the third cycle are exhibited at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam and at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. It is noteworthy that most of the artist's works are stored in a museum in Amsterdam. Only some of his most famous masterpieces are rented to other museums and galleries from different countries. But if you want to enjoy the works of this particular artist, to see paintings related to different periods of his work, then you can do this at the Van Gogh Museum.