Get Lost in Van Gogh’s Flower Colourfields

Vincent van Gogh’s various paintings of cut sunflowers in a vase (e.g. Sunflowers 1888) are probably his best-known flower paintings, but he also painted growing flowers, such as these irises. I enjoy not only his use of colour and mark making, but the way he makes flowers fill the whole composition and flattens the depth of field (an influence from Japanese art on him). A floral colour field, to apply a concept from a few decades later, and another influence on my painting, Rothko.

Other examples: Long Grass with Butterflies in the National Gallery, London, Ears of Wheat and Butterflies and Poppies in the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, Tree Trunks in Grass in the Kr?ller-M?ller Museum. If you search using “field” or “garden” or “blossom” rather than “flower” (along with “Van Gogh painting”) you’ll find photos more easily.

Irises by Vincent van Gogh
“Irises” by Vincent van Gogh (1889). 71x93cm. In the J.Paul Getty Museum. Digital image courtesy of the Getty’s Open Content Program.

2 Replies to “Get Lost in Van Gogh’s Flower Colourfields”

  1. Sometimes, it is interesting to “glue” the nose to the “motif”. And intriguing. The eyes are so much better than a camera.

  2. Van Gogh was and is my favorite artist. I was at an exhibition in Budapest where his works and inspirations were showed couldn’t get enough of it, and finally stood in front of one of his lesser known painting and just started to cry, don’t know how and why, I was so touched, tears kept coming from deep inside – he is an inspiration to my love of art/colors/hues and forms.
    Thank you for sharing.

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