Do you feel astonished by yellow fields of sunflowers, that look connected with colors of the sky, ground, grass, trees…? They look so fresh and optimistic. One of the greatest painters of post-impressionism and founder of color expressionism, Vincent van Gogh was fascinated by sunflowers – “What a Sun, what a light! I could name it yellow, pale sulfur yellow, pale lemon yellow. Yellow is so beautiful!” – he said. This wonderful plant created hope and will to live in him. This great painter, artist, transmitted his love towards sunflowers to two series of paintings. The first one emerged in 1887, in time when van Gogh lived with his brother Teo in Paris, while the other one emerged later, when he was in Arles. Paris sunflowers lie on ground, while those from Arles are set as bouquet in a vase.

He was a great researcher in painting, he was experimenting with colors, light and new techniques, bringing his feelings and mood changes into his sunflowers. Vincent van Gogh applied color in its pure condition, with very little mixing and with uninterrupted brush strokes. He painted sunflowers in Arles for a good friend of his, who was also a painter – Paul Gauguin, wishing him to decorate his room with this beautiful painting. Discovering the ‘high tone of yellow’ under a great influence of sunlight in Provence, during his stay in Arles, he indulged in sunflower motives where yellow and orange color dominated, unlike the Paris sunflowers where there was a rich range of colors from Verona lightest blue to Royal blue. Sunflowers made by Vincent van Gogh are probably the most well-known sunflowers in the world. They beautify many rooms like the one in Arles. Hereby you can see sunflowers of some other artists who present them in their own, unique way. Sunflowers… really irresistible!