Flowers

Flower still lifes like this one are characteristic of the French artist Fantin-Latour. The genre was popular, and his many paintings of flowers sold like hot cakes. He himself preferred painting dreamy figure pieces, but those did not sell nearly as well. He lamented, ‘I feel like I am an art dealer. Never before have I had so many ideas about art in my head and now I am forced to paint flowers.’

This flower still life entered the museum’s collection because it was purchased by Jo van Gogh-Bonger in 1909. She was Theo van Gogh’s wife. It occupied a prominent place above her work space.