
	SUNFLOWERS A decoration for the Yellow House Van Gogh painted many flower still lifes during his stay in Paris (1886-88). He felt that this subject lent itself well for experiments with contrasting colours, such as blue and yellow. He made the first studies of cut sunflowers in the summer of 1887. A year later, while living in Arles, Van Gogh once again returned to the theme of sunflowers. He wrote his brother Theo about his plan to decorate his atelier with sunflower still lifes in which `bright or broken chrome yellows stand out sharply against various blue backgrounds.' In August 1888, Van Gogh began painting bouquets of sunflowers in a vase. These paintings formed a series intended for the walls of his studio in the Yellow House. This was his way of preparing the house for the arrival of Gauguin, even though he was uncertain at that point whether his friend would indeed come to Arles. What he did know was that Gauguin had been struck by his earlier studies of sunflowers going to seed in Paris: Gauguin owned two of them, in return for which he had given Van Gogh one of his own paintings from Martinique. Van Gogh therefore thought it would be a good idea to create a decorative series for his guest consisting of twelve paintings of sunflowers. Later he changed his plans and spoke of six sunflower still lifes for the room in which Gauguin would stay. In the end Van Gogh painted four. Sunflowers for Gauguin Of his first sunflower still lifes, Van Gogh found the third version - with 14 flowers against a light blue background - the most successful. Shortly thereafter he painted a still life with 15 flowers against a yellow background. Vincent evidently was no longer interested in contrast, but rather in the challenge of achieving a `light on light' effect, in which the contrast between the bouquet and the background was minimalised to the extent possible. He hung these two paintings in the bedroom he had prepared for the arrival of his friend Gauguin (the works are in the Neue Pinakothek in Munich and the National Gallery in London, respectively. The painting with the yellow background is on view in the exhibition Van Gogh & Gauguin). Upon his arrival in Arles, Gauguin was much impressed by the sunflower paintings, considering them typical of Van Gogh's style. Research In the course of December, Van Gogh began painting a copy of his earlier Sunflowers against a yellow background, now in the Seiji Togo Memorial Yasuda Kasai Museum in Tokyo (also on view at the exhibition). The attribution of this work to Van Gogh had regularly been subject to discussion. Within the context of the exhibition Van Gogh & Gauguin, assistants at the Van Gogh Museum conducted research on the Sunflowers in Tokyo. The results of this investigation have been published in the form of an article by Louis van Tilborgh and Ella Hendriks. The complete article may also be downloaded as a Word-document from this website. Much attention will be devoted to this research at the international symposium being held on 7-9 March 2002. The three versions hang side by side for the first time ever in the exhibition, affording visitors a unique opportunity to study and examine the Sunflowers for themselves. An informative presentation on the Sunflowers will be on view on the first floor of the Main Building for the duration of the exhibition. Portrait Gauguin portrayed his friend while he was working on his first copy. He depicted Van Gogh with a bouquet of real sunflowers before him, something which would not have been possible in December. Gauguin seems to have been making fun of Van Gogh's need to paint what he actually observed. Gauguin attached greater value to works of art springing from the memory. It was a critical difference between the two artists, which gave ever more frequent rise to irritations in the Yellow House. Van Gogh's reaction to the portrait was sarcastic: `It is certainly I, but it's I gone mad'. Later experiments After the dramatic events of 23 December and his admission to the Arles hospital, Van Gogh resumed work on the sunflower still lifes at the end of January 1889. In a letter, Gauguin expressed his interest in the painting of the sunflowers against a yellow background from his bedroom in the Yellow House. Van Gogh made a second version of both the yellow and the blue variant for Gauguin. He deviated from his original palette and omitted the realistic illumination, thereby clearly referring to Gauguin's decorative style. In addition, he combined two of the sunflower still lifes with a portrait of Augustine Roulin, on which he had been working at the time of Gauguin's departure. He depicted the postman's wife as she rocked a cradle by pulling on a string. In a letter to Gauguin, Van Gogh calls this La Berceuse, or rocker. He explains that hanging the picture of a mother in a ship's saloon could comfort seamen far from home. Vincent sketched how he envisaged the ensemble for Theo: the two paintings of sunflowers flanking La Berceuse, which in this combination would express 'gratitude'. With respect to both style and meaning, the triptych constitutes an impressive memorial of the friendship between Van Gogh and Gauguin. Sunflowers in the tropics Gauguin's later work reveals that he never forgot the sunflowers (and their association with Van Gogh). In November 1889, Gauguin painted a still life with sunflowers with an exotic female figure. In 1901, on Tahiti, he made various paintings in which sunflowers plays a prominent role. He even asked a friend in France to send him sunflower seeds, so that he could enjoy the flowers in his tropical garden. And, in his memoirs, he mused once again about the sunflower decorations in his room at Arles. At that time, Gauguin could never have guessed just how famous Van Gogh's Sunflowers would become. More than ever, they now symbolise the period in Arles and the friendship between Van Gogh and Gauguin.