Vincent van Gogh | Roses and Sunflowers, 1886

Van Gogh painted this still life during one of his crucial transitional phases.

Between 1886 and 1888 he spent two decisive years in Paris, which initiated a change in his working method, especially his understanding of color effect.

Schooled in the work of the French Romantic Eugène Delacroix, his colors lighten during this period and he begins to experiment with extreme contrasts.

In "Roses and Sunflowers", one of more than 30 still lifes he produced in Paris, this complementary contrast is created using red and green.

Vincent van Gogh | Roses and Sunflowers, 1886 |Kunsthalle Mannheim, Germany

The two colors shape the picture and generate a tangible dynamism.

The yellow petals of the sunflowers, so important to Van Gogh, are depicted using a pastose application of color.

The resulting relief-like structure gives them plasticity and the color gains in expressive power.

Van Gogh thus translates the vitality of the real bunch of flowers into the vibrating radiance of his still life. | Source: © Kunsthalle Mannheim, Germany