| Vincent's Sunflowers | | | | his sunflowers, in fact, that in 1987, a Japanese |
| "The sunflower is mine in a way." Vincent van | | | | company paid a record of the equivalent of |
| Gogh | | | | almost 40 million dollars for "Vase with Fifteen |
| Van Gogh's "Sunflowers" are among his most | | | | Sunflowers" at an auction. Van Gogh's many |
| famous paintings, but few people realize he did | | | | sunflower canvases are flung all over the world in |
| many sunflower pictures, not just the most | | | | testimony to his mastery, now residing in art |
| famous "Vase with Twelve Sunflowers" and | | | | galleries in Europe, London and Tokyo, to name a |
| "Vase with Fifteen Sunflowers." These were | | | | few. |
| canvases he made to decorate the Yellow House | | | | During his stay in Paris, Vincent hobnobbed with |
| in Arles in anticipation of his friend Paul Gauguin's | | | | some of the greatest Impressionist painters of |
| visit, and in the hope that other artists would | | | | the period. The artists all had a great effect on |
| follow and form a Utopian art community. Some | | | | one another, including van Gogh, who was |
| of Vincent's sunflower paintings are all but | | | | recognized as a formidable genius by "Les Vingt," |
| indistinguishable, with only tiny differences to | | | | Monet and Toulouse Lautrec, among others. One |
| prove one reproduction is different from the next. | | | | can readily discern the Paris sunflowers from the |
| During his stay in Paris, he painted cut sunflowers | | | | ones Vincent painted later, in the Yellow House at |
| in different stages of being, from fresh to wilted | | | | Arles, since they are cut flowers without vases. |
| to dry. | | | | These cut sunflowers are depicted in various |
| He appears to have brought his passion for | | | | stages of wilting, but Vincent's final bright and bold |
| sunflowers with him from his homeland in Holland | | | | color palette is evident at this point in his artistic |
| wherever he roamed, and indeed, they make the | | | | development, permeating the pictures with life |
| kind of dramatic subject he loved. Around the | | | | and joy. |
| world today, the sunflower is synonymous with | | | | The master's influence on western art and artists |
| Vincent's work, immediately recognizable and | | | | cannot be overstated. His work bridged |
| every bit as much his own as the water lilies | | | | impressionism, expressionism, cubism and more |
| belonging to Monet. | | | | with a unique language understood by all lovers of |
| Vincent's "Sunflowers No. 2," the most famous | | | | beauty and truth. The enormous popularity of a |
| sunflower still life, yellow on yellow, possesses the | | | | simple vase of sunflowers attests to his power |
| same universal appeal and impact of all his most | | | | and sincerity. |
| beloved pictures. So widespread is the appeal of | | | | |