The famous paintings Sunflower by Vincent Van Gogh are known the world over, and one of the artist's paintings can be seen in London.
Today, I'd like to tell you a little more about this very famous work.
Van Gogh's sunflowers in London: article summary
Van Gogh's sunflowers in London: in brief
Vincent Van Gogh painted them with three shades of yellow "and nothing else", to demonstrate that it was possible to use variations of the same color without losing its expressive power.
The master produced several versions: one with a turquoise background, said to be in a private American collection.
The other, with its royal blue background, was lost in a fire in Japan during the bombings of the Second World War.
But today, is the London version you can see on your visit to the city.
Experimenting with color
Van Gogh began painting still lifes of flowers to experiment with color. His early Dutch period was characterized by the use of dark colors and heavy forms, peasants and their lives.
In Paris, the artist saw the fresh colors chosen by the Impressionists, which inspired him to use more color in his own work.
After adopting Impressionist techniques and studying Pointillism, he painted Parisian scenes, portraits and flowers.
Contemporaries also painted flowers, but not the coarser sunflowers that Vincent appreciated for their size, shape and structure.
Van Gogh's sunflowers in London: 5 different versions
When Paul Gauguin decided to visit, Vincent painted various still lifes of sunflowers to decorate the guest room of his yellow house.
Although originally designed for Gauguin, Van Gogh later took the sunflower as his personal artistic signature.
During his stay in the yellow house, Gauguin painted Vincent at work, entitling the canvas "Le Peintre des Tournesols" ("The Sunflower Painter").
A plant symbolizing gratitude
The significance of the sunflowers is explained by the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam: they were meant to symbolize gratitude.
Together, the paintings were to form a triptych. Vincent Van Gogh thought that the triptych as a whole symbolized gratitude.
The artist painted several canvases of sunflowers at the same time. In Van Gogh's sunflower series, the differences are not great: the arrangement and positioning of the flowers are similar.
However, the number of flowers varies, as does the time of flowering. And the background colors vary.
In recent years, cutting-edge research has shown that colors have changed. Some colors have faded over time.
Van Gogh's sunflowers in London: some interesting facts
There are several theories about Van Gogh's prolific use of yellow. It is said that consuming too much absinthe or using digitalis could have caused him to see yellow more intensely.
Fingerprints are found on the edge of a sunflower painting. The artist had to pick up the canvas before the paint dried.
Vincent Van Gogh applied paint in thick layers, often directly from the tube.
A recently attacked painting
At the National Gallery in London, one of the original paintings of sunflowers was targeted last autumn by environmental activists from the Just Stop Oil campaign.
They threw tomato soup at him before sticking their hands to the wall. The canvas, covered in Plexiglas, has not been damagedbut the frame is. The painting was re-exhibited the same day.
Where to see Van Gogh's sunflowers?
Vincent's sunflowers are part of the Van Gogh Exhibition, the immersive experience that's been touring the world for five years now, and already seen by 5 million visitors.
What are the opening hours?
You can visit us on site:
- Monday to Thursday 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
- Friday 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.
- Saturday 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
- Sunday 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Van Gogh's sunflowers are a major work to see when visiting London. If you'd like to learn more, I recommend a detour to the Van Gogh exhibition. You'll be able to enjoy the many paintings created by the artist.