Vincent van Gogh Painting Sunflowers
Currently on view
Paul Gauguin (1848 - 1903), Arles, 1888
oil on canvas, 73 cm x 91 cm
Credits (obliged to state): Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (Vincent van Gogh Foundation)
Was Van Gogh really painting a vase of sunflowers when his friend Gauguin produced this portrait of him? No, he can’t have been: it was December and far too late in the year for sunflowers. But it’s quite probable that Van Gogh painted a copy of one of his own sunflower pictures around this time. The landscape in the background is also fictional: unlike Van Gogh, Gauguin liked to work from his imagination. They often argued about this. This painting refers to their disagreement.
Later, Van Gogh wrote about this portrait: ‘My face has lit up a lot since, but it was indeed me, extremely tired and charged with electricity as I was then.’
- Object number
- s0225V1962
- Dimensions
- 73 cm x 91 cm, 91.2 cm x 109.7 cm, 6.8 cm x 205 cm, 142 cm x 52 cm
- Provenance
- Given by the artist to Theo van Gogh, Paris, on or after 25 December 1888; after his death on 25 January 1891, inherited by his widow, Jo van Gogh-Bonger, and their son, Vincent Willem van Gogh, Paris; administered until her death on 2 September 1925 by Jo van Gogh-Bonger, Bussum/Amsterdam/Laren; transferred by Vincent Willem van Gogh, Laren, to the Vincent van Gogh Foundation, Amsterdam, 10 July 1962; agreement concluded between the Vincent van Gogh Foundation and the State of the Netherlands, in which the preservation and management of the collection, and its placing in the Rijksmuseum Vincent van Gogh, to be realized in Amsterdam, is entrusted to the State, 21 July 1962; on permanent loan to the Rijksmuseum Vincent van Gogh from the opening of the museum on 2 June 1973, and at the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, since 1 July 1994.
- artist
- Paul Gauguin
- Credits (obliged to state)
- Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (Vincent van Gogh Foundation)
Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum, In the Picture. Kunstenaarsportretten, 21 February-30 August 2020
Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum, Van Gogh en de Zonnebloemen, 21 June-1 September 2019, no. 2.12
Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum, De waanzin nabij. Van Gogh en zijn ziekte, 15 July-25 September 2016, no. 4
Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum, Van Gogh aan het werk, 1 May 2013-13 January 2014
Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum, Van Goghs brieven. De kunstenaar aan het woord, 9 October 2009-3 January 2010
Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum, De keuze van Vincent. Van Goghs Musée imaginaire, 14 February-15 June 2003, no. 173
Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum, Van Gogh en Gauguin. Het atelier van het zuiden, 9 February-2 June 2002, no. 46
Paris, Institut Néerlandais, Oeuvres écrites de Gauguin et Van Gogh, 14 May-29 June 1975, no. 119
Paris, Musée de l'Orangerie, Vincent van Gogh. Collection du Musée National Vincent van Gogh à Amsterdam, 21 December 1971-10 April 1972, no. 110
Cincinnati, Cincinnati Art Museum, The early work of Paul Gauguin : genesis of an artist, 18 March-26 April 1971, no. 17
Paris, Musée National d'Art Moderne, l'Expressionnisme Européen, 26 May-27 July 1970, no. 4
Munich, Haus der Kunst, Europäischer Expressionismus, 7 March-10 May 1970, no. 4
Amsterdam, Museum Fodor, October-December 1969
Zurich, Kunsthaus Zürich, Pont-Aven. Gauguin und sein Kreis in der Bretagne, 5 March-11 April 1966, no. 14
London, Tate Gallery, Gauguin and the Pont-Aven group, 7 January-13 February 1966, no. 15
Hamburg, Hamburger Kunstverein, Wegbereiter der modernen Malerei. Cézanne, Gauguin, van Gogh, Seurat, 4 May-14 July 1963, no. 43
Stockholm, Moderna Museet, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam besöker Moderna Museet, Stockholm, 26 December 1961-28 January 1962, no. 36
Humlebaek, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Stedelijk Museum besoger Louisiana, 28 October-3 December 1961, no. 39
Paris, Institut Néerlandais, Les amis de Van Gogh, 9 November-17 December 1960, no. 41
London, Marlborough Fine Art, Van Gogh Selfportraits, October 1960
Otterlo, Kröller-Müller Museum, Collectie Theo van Gogh, April-May 1960, no. 48
Amsterdam, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, Collectie Theo van Gogh, February 1960, no. 48
Mons, Museum voor Schoone Kunsten, Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890). Son art et ses amis, 22 March-5 May 1958, no. 90
New York, Wildenstein & Company, Loan exhibition, Gauguin: for the benefit of the Citizen's Committee for Children of New York City, 5 April-5 May 1956, no. 11
Coral Gables, Lowe Gallery of the University of Miami, Paul Gauguin, 1848-1903, 8-28 March 1956, no. 9
Palm Beach (Florida), Society of the Four Arts, Paul Gauguin 1848-1903, 4 February-4 March 1956, no. 11
Edinburgh, Royal Scottish Academy, Paul Gauguin : paintings, sculpture and engravings, 30 September-26 October 1955, no. 26
Antwerp, Zaal Comité voor Artistieke Werking, Vincent van Gogh, 7 May-19 June 1955, no. 8
Eindhoven, Van Abbemuseum, Vincent van Gogh, 22 March-4 May 1952, no. 80
Enschede, Rijksmuseum Twenthe, Vincent van Gogh, 20 February-16 March 1952, no. 79
Lausanne, Musée Cantonal des Beaux-Arts, Gauguin: exposition du centenaire, 16 February-16 April 1950, no. 2
Basel, Kunstmuseum Basel, Ausstellung Paul Gauguin zum 100. Geburtsjahr, 26 November 1949-29 January 1950, no. 22
Amsterdam, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, Vincent van Gogh, 14 September-1 December 1945
San Francisco, California Palace of the Legion of Honor, Vincent van Gogh, 28 April-24 May 1936, no. 68
Cleveland, Cleveland Museum of Art, Vincent van Gogh, 25 March-19 April 1936, no. 68
Boston, Museum of Fine Arts (Boston), Vincent van Gogh, 19 February-15 March 1936, no. 68
Philadelphia (Pennsylvania), Philadelphia Museum of Art, Vincent van Gogh, 11 January-10 February 1936, no. 68
New York, Museum of Modern Art (New York), Vincent van Gogh, 5 November 1935-5 January 1936, no. 68
Amsterdam, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, Vincent van Gogh en zijn tijdgenooten, 6 September-2 November 1930, no. 156
Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, Exposition rétrospective d'art français, 3 July-30 September 1926, no. 56bis
Antwerp, Feestzaal Meir, L'art contemporain, 29 April-28 May 1922, no. 271
Amsterdam, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, Moderne Kunst Kring: Ouvrages de peinture, sculpture, dessin, gravure: exposée au Musée Municipal Suasso, 6 October-7 November 1912, no. 19
Cologne, Städtische Ausstellungshalle am Aachener Tor, Internationale Kunstausstellung des Sonderbundes westdeutscher Kunstfreunde und Künstler zu Cöln 1912, 25 May-30 September 1912, no. 154
Amsterdam, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, Tentoonstelling Vincent van Gogh, 15 July-1 September 1905, no. b
Callen, Anthea, Gallimmore, K., Havell, J., art of impressionism : painting technique and the making of modernity, 2000, p. 215
Callen, Anthea, Gallimmore, K., Havell, J., art of impressionism : painting technique and the making of modernity, 2000, p. 215
