#160 – Sunflowers

We know that Vincent Van Gogh created twelve paintings of sunflowers. He painted seven in the town of Arles where he entered his second productive period of artistic expression. In Arles he seemed captivated by yellow and incorporated the colour into many of his paintings, in particular his most well known of sunflowers. In this painting, we see the enthusiasm and inspiration the simple flower can bring to the canvas. The background with its deep shades of blue hints at the blue of the sky, perhaps as one would see it through a window in lates summer. The flowers themselves are arranged casually, their heavy heads nodding with sunflower seeds. The impact of the chosen colours brings a vibrancy to the simple scene of a white vase and a summer bouquet.