Van Gogh’s world-famous painting Sunflowers enriched many, but did not bring happiness or prosperity to its distinctive author. They were Vincent’s favorite flowers and he returned to the subject on many occasions throughout his career. One of his friends once said that, in a sense, it was a symbolic reflection of himself, a sort of modern business card. And so he did, later reiterating the importance of this theme in his letter to his brother Theo.

The creative quest of the talented Dutch painter
For a long time Van Gogh’s canvases were gloomy, with a peasant-worker theme. For a while it aroused some interest, but it was not profitable to sell. “The Potato Eaters, for example, are now seen as a milestone in the work of the distinctive artist. But they belong in museums, not private collections.

Vincent’s brother, Theo Van Gogh, was in the business of selling his paintings. To distract the artist from sketching the hard life of the miners, his brother invited him to Paris. At that time, a different atmosphere prevailed there. Cheerful, sunlit, optimistic Impressionist paintings made an indelible impression on the European provincial. Degas, Monet and Renoir brought him out of his depression. Many flowers appeared in the work of the Post-Impressionist:

daisies;
mallows;
irises;
roses;
zinnias;
anemones;
carnations;
poppies;
cornflowers;
and even thistles.

Many flowers are painted a little carelessly, in a peculiar manner – with thick strokes on the canvas, almost without finishing touches and refinements. The branches of blossoming apple trees and fragrant acacia, almond and chestnut “candles”, bushes of dense oleander – all this began to fill his canvases with vivid colors. But most of all the blooming and ripening sunflowers “caught my heart.

History of creation of the painting Sunflowers
“Sunflowers” Van Gogh wrote 11 times – each image with flowering heads captivated him with all the passion and special fervor. Some paintings reek of sadness, others are full of light, depending on the mood of the author. They could not repeat, each time it was a different sunflower, which he wrote from life. In the “Parisian” series, mostly reclining sunflowers. These are large cut mature heads without a vase.

Paul Gauguin walked into one of the salons in the restaurant, where the “fashionable” Impressionist paintings were on display, on a November evening. Van Gogh’s four paintings of sunflowers, all on view at the same time, were highly praised by the eminent painter. He noted a certain “solar” symbolism, virtuoso work and an unusual handwriting in the detail of the images.

All four paintings were created between August and September 1887, a short time span for works of this level. The master said that they should be depicted differently, the backgrounds and lighting changed. For the arrival of the dear guest, Vincent hurriedly painted “large sunflowers”. The final work – “light on light”, it seemed to the author the most successful.

It was decided to hang the finished works in the guest room of the country cottage where he was waiting for Paul Gauguin. He also set aside a place for a joint workshop, where French painters could gather. At this time all his works were filled with sunshine, even Van Gogh’s self-portrait in a straw hat with a pipe.

It was a fateful meeting between a naïve admirer and his idol. Gauguin, whom Van Gogh literally idolized, inspired the unknown Dutchman to believe in his talent. But the ending was unfortunate – the world knows their quarrel and the breakdown of their relationship. One of the geniuses insisted that pictures must be painted from his head, the other wanted to work from nature, admiring what was given by nature and created by God.

The artists quarreled, it seemed, forever, and Gauguin swore that he would never cross the threshold of his studio. Thus all of Vincent’s dreams of an artistic fraternity–for the sake of saving him from poverty and loneliness–were crushed. After this, Van Gogh had a series of psychotic fits, inadequate behavior, culminating in a severed ear and isolation in an asylum for the mentally ill.