Vincent van Gogh - Vase with Gladioli and China Asters [1886]

Vincent van Gogh - Vase with Gladioli and China Asters [1886], a photo by Gandalf's Gallery on Flickr.

In Paris in 1886, Vincent van Gogh produced a great many still lifes of flowers, including this one of gladioli and asters. Until shortly before this time, he had painted mainly in darker shades, but this new subject gave him the chance to experiment freely with bright colours and looser brushstrokes. Van Gogh has applied the paint remarkably thickly in this work. In October 1886, van Gogh wrote to a colleague explaining why he had painted so many floral still lifes that year. 'I have lacked money for paying models, else I had entirely given myself to figure painting but I have made a series of colour studies in painting simply flowers.' 

[Oil on canvas, 46.5 x 38.5 cm]