Small Bottle with Peonies and Blue Delphiniums
Vincent van Gogh (1853 - 1890), Paris, June-July 1886
oil on cardboard,
34.5 cm x 27.0 cm
Credits (obliged to state): Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (Vincent van Gogh Foundation)
Van Gogh painted this flower still life on a simple piece of card, using rapid, loose brushstrokes. It is one of many studies in which he experimented with the effects of different colours on each other. His brother Theo wrote to their mother: ‘He is mainly painting flowers, with the aim of making future pictures brighter in colour.
Theo wrote that acquaintances were giving Van Gogh a bunch of flowers every week. This was one of the first bunches he painted; many more were to follow.