A painting a day · No. 30 of 38
Sunflowers
Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890)
1888 · Oil on canvas · The National Gallery, London
The story
Painted in Arles in the south of France to decorate the room of his friend Paul Gauguin, who was coming to stay. Van Gogh made it almost entirely out of yellows.
Look closer
- The flowers are at every stage: fresh, open, wilting and gone to seed.
- He signed the vase: 'Vincent'.
- The paint is thick. You can see each brushstroke in the petals.
Did you know
Another version sold at Christie's in London in 1987 for £24.75 million, a world record then. The new chrome yellow paint he loved is slowly turning browner.
Why we can show it
Vincent van Gogh died in 1890. UK copyright lasts for the artist’s life plus 70 years, so even under today’s rules this painting would have been free for anyone to show since 1961. The photograph is a faithful copy of a flat work, which creates no new copyright. We do not store the picture: it comes from Wikimedia Commons each time it is needed. More on this.