Sunflowers by Vincent Van Gogh Placemat

Sunflowers by Vincent Van Gogh, oil on canvas 1889, is a still life painting of fifteen brilliantly colorful sunflowers in a large vase against an acidic yellow background. A range of warm yellows and orange contrast with cool tones, punctuated by dark accents and bold, insistent outlines, for an effect of flattened forms that capture the inner life of the flowers in the vase. Van Gogh painted his iconic Sunflowers as a series of paintings for his Yellow House in Arles, France, where the painter Paul Gauguin also lived and worked for a brief time. Vincent Van Gogh (1853 - 1890) was a Dutch painter of the Post-Impressionist movement known for bold, expressive drawing, swirling brushstrokes and intense, heightened colors. In early adulthood Van Gogh worked as an art dealer, teacher and pastor before taking up the full time study of drawing and painting in his late twenties. Influenced by Rembrandt, the 19th century Realists and Barbizon school, Van Gogh’s early paintings featured studies of workers and peasants in somber earth tones. Moving to France in 1886, Van Gogh met with the startling innovations of the Impressionist painters and began to apply their approach to color and subject matter, which continued into the mature style for which the artist is most renowned. Van Gogh produced many hundreds of drawings and paintings including portraits, landscapes, still life and flower paintings, and numerous self-portraits that became a dominating influence on the modern art of the 20th century and made him one of the most popular artists of all time.