In today’s Art Blogmas, you can enjoy and learn more about one of the most iconic paintings in European museums – Vincent van Gogh’s Sunflowers. Actually, it’s not a single painting. Van Gogh painted seven versions of his famous Sunflowers, so you can see them in more than one museum. Continue reading to learn more about it.

Vincent van Gogh: Sunflowers

⤷ Where are they in Europe? Van Gogh Museum (Amsterdam), National Gallery (London), Neue Pinakothek (Munich)

Sunflowers are probably one of the first paintings coming to anyone’s mind when thinking about this famous Dutch painter. Van Gogh created many paintings with sunflowers as a theme. However, the large compositions with sunflowers in the vases are the most famous, and there are seven versions of them.

Vincent van Gogh painted four of them in the summer of 1888. And three at the very beginning of the following year.

They became some of his most famous artwork. Van Gogh wasn’t too successful during his lifetime, and he sold only one painting before his death. However, that changed later on. In 1989, one of his Sunflowers were sold for almost 40 million US dollars.

⤷ Read more: Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam Highlights

But, what’s so special about Van Gogh’s Sunflowers that they found their place in our Art Blogmas 2021?

These paintings were made while Vincent van Gogh lived in Arles, France. During the year he spent there (1888), his art came to its peak, and he developed some of his very recognisable artistic expressions there. One of them is the usage of that very bright yellow colour. And he used almost a single colour on his Sunflowers.

Besides the green leaves and a touch of red and blue, everything is yellow in his paintings. Flowers are yellow, a vase and the background as well. However, Van Gogh uses so many different shades of yellow that you can clearly see a difference between the motives of a painting.

He’s also doing that by showing the texture of his painting. Van Gogh uses a very thick layer of paint and is almost modelling some of the flowers on a painting. It’s interesting to know he was actually inspired by another Dutch painter, Rembrandt van Rijn when using that kind of a tick colour.

⤷ Read more: Van Gogh & his Sunflowers

Almost always, when Van Gogh painted flowers in a vase, he included symbolism of life in them, too. You’ll always find some fresh younger flowers in a vase. But, there will often be some, almost withered, flowers there, also. He’s showing the circle of life that way – from younger to older, birth to death, you can find all those flowers together.

⤷ Read more about places linked to Vincent van Gogh in Europe:

Did you had a chance to see any of Van Gogh’s Sunflowers? Be sure to check our Art Blogmas tomorrow morning, too. And follow it on Culture Tourist’s Facebook page and Instagram profile, as well.

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