Van Gogh and his 11 sunflower paintings

Aug 1888: Four copies of of "vase with sunflowers"

In April 1888, Van Gogh moved from Paris to the southern city of Arles. On June 5, Van Gogh sent a letter to Paul Gauguin, inviting him to work with him. Then Gauguin decided to go to Arles at the end of June. To welcome Gauguin, Van Gogh began decorating his art studio. "I want to decorate my studio with flowers, and there is no better choice than sunflowers", Van Gogh decided to welcome Gauguin with the bright-colored flower in the southern city. Then he worked all day and night, and finally created four vigorous sunflower paintings in only one week.

One of them was later bought by a Japanese merchant and was destroyed during the second world war. The recent film Sunflowers of Inferno featured a plot in which the painting was not destroyed and was saved by someone.

Vase with Twelve Sunflowers, 1888, collected by Neue Pinakothek in Munich of Germany. [Photo/Artron.net]

Vase with Fifteen Sunflowers, 1888, 98.0 x 69.0 cm, collected by the National Gallery in London, UK. [Photo/Artron.net]