Date : 1888
Dimensions : 73 cm x 92 cm
Material : Oil on canvas
Acquisition : Bought by the Trustees of the Courtauld Fund (1924)
Post-Impressionnistes
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French Painting
Painting (Still Life)
Area related
Arles (France)
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| Description |  |
Van Gogh associated the color yellow with hope and friendship. He suggested that his four 'Sunflowers canvases', painted as decorations for his house at Arles, might express an 'idea symbolizing gratitude'. He seems to have been especially pleased with this picture, which he hung in the guest bedroom in anticipation of the arrival of his friend, the artist Paul Gauguin.
Van Gogh wrote to his brother Theo in August 1888 :
- "I am hard at it, painting with the enthusiasm of a Marseillais eating bouillabaisse, which won't surprise you when you know that what I'm at is the painting of some sunflowers. If I carry out this idea there will be a dozen panels. So the whole thing will be a symphony in blue and yellow. I am working at it every morning from sunrise on, for the flowers fade so quickly. I am now on the fourth picture of sunflowers. This fourth one is a bunch of 14 flowers ... it gives a singular effect".
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Les faux Van Gogh
La vente record (40 millions de dollars au magnat japonais de l'assurance Yasuo Goto) d'un bouquet de tournesols de Vincent Van Gogh, par Christie's le 30 mars 1987, sera à l'origine d'un scandale majeur.
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