Sunflowers, Friendship and Gratitude
Van Gogh began painting in late summer 1888 and continued into the following year. One went to decorate his friend Paul Gauguin's bedroom. The paintings show sunflowers in all stages of life, from full bloom to withering. The paintings were considered innovative for their use of the yellow spectrum, partly because newly invented pigments made new colours possible.
In a letter to his brother Theo, Van Gogh wrote:
"It is a kind of painting that rather changes in character, and takes on a richness the longer you look at it. Besides, you know, Gauguin likes them extraordinarily. He said to me among other things - 'That...it's...the flower.' You know that the peony is Jeannin's, the hollyhock belongs to Quost, but the sunflower is somewhat my own."
Read more about this topic: Sunflowers (Van Gogh series)
Famous quotes containing the words friendship and/or gratitude:
“For when we must resign our vital breath,
Our Loves by Fate benighted,
We by this friendship shall survive in death,
Even in divorce united.
Weak Love through fortune or distrust
In time forgets to burn,
But this pursues us to the Urn,
And marries either’s Dust.”
—Thomas Stanley (1625–1678)
“... gratitude is not a healthy emotion in the long run ...”
—Agnes E. Meyer (1887–1970)