Sunflowers

Sunflowers is a series of still-life paintings Vincent van Gogh made in Arles in 1888 and 1889, depicting cut sunflowers in vases.

Fourteen Sunflowers: A 1888 version of Van Gogh’s Sunflowers series showing fourteen blooms in a vase against a yellow background. This Arles composition became one of the series’ best-known paintings.
Arles: A city in southern France where Van Gogh lived and painted from 1888 to 1889. Van Gogh made the sunflower paintings during his stay in this city.
Impasto: A painting technique that applies paint thickly so brushstrokes remain raised on the surface. Van Gogh’s textured paint gives petals and backgrounds a tactile force.
Art conservation: The study and practice of preserving and treating works of art. Fading pigments and fragile surfaces make conservation central to the paintings’ future.
Fifteen Sunflowers: A 1888 Van Gogh still life showing fifteen sunflowers in a vase against a yellow ground. This version develops the series’ dense bouquet and yellow palette.
Yellow House: The rented house in Arles where Van Gogh hoped to establish an artists’ community. He planned the sunflower decorations for the house’s rooms.
Complementary colors: Pairs of colors opposite each other on a color wheel, which can intensify one another when placed together. Contrasts between yellow flowers and blue accents sharpen the compositions.
Pigment degradation: Chemical or physical change that alters a pigment’s color or stability over time. Some yellow pigments in the paintings have darkened or changed.
Vase with Twelve Sunflowers: A 1888 Van Gogh painting of twelve sunflowers arranged in a vase. Its smaller bouquet is one of the principal Arles versions.
Paul Gauguin: A French Post-Impressionist painter who lived and worked with Van Gogh in Arles in 1888. Van Gogh made sunflower paintings to decorate the room prepared for Gauguin.

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Joan MitchellBroader topic: Its vivid, layered color demonstrates her late engagement with the natural world.