The Van Gogh Gallery Blog

Van Gogh completed Irises in May of 1889 when he was at the asylum in Saint-Rémy. Here he eased back into painting capturing flowers and foliage in the surrounding garden and the star filled nights from his window. In a letter to his brother Theo from May of 1889, Van Gogh wrote:

“The idea of my duty to get back to work occurs to me a lot and I believe that all my faculties for work will soon come back to me. It’s just that the work often absorbs me so much that I think that for the rest of my life I will always be a bit absent-minded and awkward when shifting for myself.”

Irises was shown with Starry Night over the Rhone at the the Société des Artistes Indépendants Exhibition in Paris in September of 1889. Following the exhibition, Theo wrote to Van Gogh in October of 1889 proclaiming that he thought Irises was one of Vincent’s “good things.”

“The exhibition of the Independents is over and I’ve got your irises back; it is one of your good things. It seems to me that you are stronger when you paint true things like that, or like the stagecoach at Tarascon, or the head of a child, or the underbrush with the ivy in vertical format. The form is so well defined, and the whole is full of colour.”

Today, Irises can be seen at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, and is still considered one of Van Gogh’s finest works.

Letters Source:
Letter from Vincent to Theo, May 1889
Letter from Theo to Vincent, October 1889

Van Gogh’s Sunflowers is one of his most famous series of works.  He completed two separate series of still life paintings of Sunflowers the first in Paris in 1887 and the second adorned Gauguin’s room in Arles when he came to stay with Van Gogh at the yellow house.    In a letter to his brother Theo from August of 1888 Van Gogh writes about how quickly he had to work to complete his Sunflower paintings to decorate the Studio of the South,

“Now that I hope to live with Gauguin in a studio of our own, I want to make decorations for the studio. Nothing but big flowers. Next door to your shop, in the restaurant, you know there is a lovely decoration of flowers; I always remember the big sunflowers in the window there.

If I carry out this idea there will be a dozen panels. So the whole thing will be a symphony in blue and yellow. I am working at it every morning from sunrise on, for the flowers fade so soon, and the thing is to do the whole in one rush.”

Often synonymous with happiness and light, for Van Gogh Sunflowers also brought meaning of new hope for building his artist community in the Studio of the South.   The National Gallery website has an interesting section on Van Gogh’s Sunflowers which details Sunflowers as symbols of happiness and covers this period in Van Gogh’s life:
 
Van Gogh’s Sunflowers served as an inspiration for many other artists.  View other artists’ Sunflowers.

One of Van Gogh’s most beautiful paintings and one that today is renowned among the most popular selling prints is Van Gogh’s “Almond Blossom.”   Painted in Saint-Rémy, France in February of 1890, this painting was created by Van Gogh in the last year of his life.  Originally painted as a gift for his brother Theo’s newborn son, Almond Blossom, shown here, is an oil on canvas painting inspired by Japanese prints with a blue background and almond branches covered in blossoms in the foreground. 

After by the birth of his nephew, Van Gogh wrote the following in a letter to his mother from February 20, 1890,

“I imagine that, like me, your thoughts are much with Jo and Theo: how glad I was when the news came that it had ended well: it was a good thing that Wil stayed on. I should have greatly preferred him to call the boy after Father, of whom I have been thinking so much these days, instead of after me; but seeing it has now been done, I started right away to make a picture for him, to hang in their bedroom, big branches of white almond blossom against a blue sky.”

Theo named the newborn Vincent after his brother, and Vincent seemed quite proud to share this painting with him as it was a symbol of new life and the coming of spring.  In a letter to his brother Theo from March 15 of 1890 Van Gogh wrote,

“My work was going well, the last canvas of branches in blossom – you will see that it was perhaps the best, the most patiently worked thing I had done, painted with calm and with a greater firmness of touch.”

Today Almond Blossom, or Blossoming Almond Tree as it is often called, can be seen at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam.

While Van Gogh is widely known as a master of painting and drawing, he is gaining more recognition for his talent as a writer.  With the recent exhibits at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam and at The Royal Academy of Arts in London featuring Van Gogh’s letters and paintings side by side, more people are becoming aware of Van Gogh the writer.  But his writing doesn’t need to be alongside his paintings for it to be impressive or to make sense.  Van Gogh wrote hundreds of letters during his lifetime many of them to his brother Theo.  His letters range in topic from things you might expect like art techniques and theory to discourses on religion, family, ambition, fear and love to name a few.  It is not until you read several of Van Gogh’s letters from different times over the course of his life that you begin to appreciate the beauty of his writing and his command of language (Van Gogh was fluent in French as well as Dutch)  but also his philosophies and outlook on life.  With Valentine’s Day just past, it seemed fitting to share some of his thoughts on love.  This excerpt is from a letter he wrote to his brother Theo in March of 1883:

“It may well seem to you that the sun is shining more brightly and that everything has taken on a new charm. That, at any rate, is the inevitable consequence of true love, I believe, and it is a wonderful thing. And I also believe that those who hold that no one thinks clearly when in love are wrong, for it is at just that time that one thinks very clearly indeed and is more energetic than one was before. And love is something eternal, it may change in aspect but not in essence. And there is the same difference between someone who is in love and what he was like before as there is between a lamp that is lit and one that is not. The lamp was there all the time and it was a good lamp, but now it is giving light as well and that is its true function. And one has more peace of mind about many things and so is more likely to do better work.”

View more from Van Gogh’s Letters.

Related Articles:

The Real Van Gogh: The Artist and His Letters Exhibition

Letter Source:

Web Exhibits – Letter from Vincent to Theo, March 1883

Planning on being in London this spring?  If so, you should enter The Real Van Gogh: The artist and his letters contest. We are currently running a contest in cooperation with The Royal Academy of Arts in London to win a pair of exhibition tickets for The Real Van Gogh: The Artist and His Letters.

This landmark exhibition of the work of Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890) opened at The Royal Academy of Arts on January 23 and will run until April 18. The focus of the exhibition is the artist’s remarkable correspondence, with over 35 original letters on display in the main galleries of Burlington House, together with around 65 paintings and 30 drawings. The exhibition will offer a unique opportunity to gain an insight into the complex mind of Vincent van Gogh.

For the chance to win a pair of exhibition tickets simply email your name to competitions@royalacademy.org.uk with Van Gogh Gallery in the subject box. Prize drawn on 26 February. Judges’ decision is final.

For more information about the exhibit please see The Royal Academy of Arts.

Related Articles:

The Real Van Gogh: The Artist and His Letters Exhibition

 We would like to thank all of our visitors for supporting the Van Gogh Gallery and wish you the best this holiday season.  It seems only fitting that our wishes come from Van Gogh himself, so here are some of his holiday musings and a drawing from a letter he wrote to his brother Theo in December of 1882:

“My intention in these two, and in the first little old man, is one and the same, namely to express the peculiar sentiment of Christmas and New Years Eve. Both in Holland and England this is always more or less religious, in fact, it is that way everywhere, at least in Brittany, and in the Alsace, too. Now one need not agree exactly with the form of that religious sentiment, but if it is sincere, it is a feeling one must respect. And personally, I can fully share it and even need it,”

Letter Source:

Webexhibits

Related Articles:

Gogh Here for the Holidays

Rarely, since the time that they were created, has a large collection of Van Gogh’s original letters and his corresponding works been seen together.  But in January of 2010, the main galleries of Burlington House, the Royal Academy of Arts will be host to an exhibition of over 35 original Van Gogh letters and about 65 paintings and 30 drawings relating to the letters on display.  As the first major Van Gogh exhibition in London in over forty years, The Real Van Gogh: The Artist and His Letters, will be a monumental event for Van Gogh admirers.

Van Gogh is widely known for his prolific and extraordinary work as an artist, but his expression in the written word is also impressive.  When analyzing different works of art, art historians and appreciators try to uncover meaning in the work itself, but it is rare that the intent, motivation and perception can be drawn directly from the words of the artist himself especially posthumously.  Such an accurate record of one man’s work, life and time in history is hard to find, and we are privileged to have this account preserved for the public to view today.

This exhibition will not only show some of the finished paintings and drawings referred to in Van Gogh’s correspondence to his greatest confidants, visitors will also see the letter sketches of works in progress to get a more complete  picture of the man behind the brush and the pen and his development both as an artist and a person. 

According to the Royal Academy of Arts, “Highlights of the exhibition will include Self-portrait as an Artist (1888) and The Yellow House (1888) from the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam; Still-life: Drawing Board with Onions (1889) from the Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo; Vincent’s Chair with His Pipe (1888) from the National Gallery, London; and Entrance to the Public Park in Arles (1888) from the Phillips Collection, Washington DC.”

The Real Van Gogh: The Artist and His Letters Exhibition is curated by Ann Dumas of the Royal Academy of Arts, London, in collaboration with Leo Jansen, Hans Luijten and Nienke Bakker of the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam.  The exhibit is sponsored by the Bank of New York Mellon.

For tickets and information about The Real Van Gogh: The Artist and His Letters please visit the Royal Academy of Arts.

In cooperation with the Royal Academy of Arts, the Van Gogh Gallery will be having a contest to win tickets to this exhibition.  Please continue to check the Van Gogh Gallery website for more details over the next few weeks.

Vincent Van Gogh. Self Portrait as a Painter. 1887 - 1888. Oil on canvas. 65.2 x 50.2 cm. Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (Vincent van Gogh Foundation)