Van Gogh’s paintings of Sunflowers are among his most famous. He did them in Arles, in the south of France, in 1888 and 1889. Vincent painted a total of five large canvases with sunflowers in a vase, with three shades of yellow ‘and nothing else’. In this way, he demonstrated that it was possible to create an image with numerous variations of a single colour, without any loss of eloquence.The sunflower paintings had a special significance for Van Gogh: they communicated ‘gratitude’, he wrote. He hung the first two in the room of his friend, the painter Paul Gauguin, who came to live with him for a while in the Yellow House. Gauguin was impressed by the sunflowers, which he thought were ‘completely Vincent’. Van Gogh had already painted a new version during his friend’s stay and Gauguin later asked for one as a gift, which Vincent was reluctant to give him. He later produced two loose copies, however, one of which is now in the Van Gogh Museum. Title: Sunflowers Creator: Vincent van Gogh Creator Lifespan: 30 March 1853 - 29 July 1890 Creator Nationality: Dutch Creator Gender: Male Creator Death Place: Auvers-sur-Oise Creator Birth Place: Zundert Date Created: January 1889 - 1889 Location Created: Arles, France Place Part Of: France Physical Dimensions: w73 cm x h95 cm Type: Still life Rights: Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (Vincent van Gogh Foundation)
