Description of the painting by Vincent Willem van Gogh “Vase with red poppies”

Description of the painting by Vincent Willem van Gogh Vase with red poppies

The painting “Vase with Red Poppies” was painted by Van Gogh in the summer of 1886 after moving to Paris.

The Paris period was very fruitful for him, during these years about 250 paintings were painted by the artist. “Vase with red poppies” is one of a whole series of still lifes of the Paris period of Van Gogh.

The impressionist technique attracted the artist and gradually the palette of melancholic beauties changed to red, orange, green, blue and, of course, yellow.

Still life “Vase with red poppies” is one of the first works of the Parisian period of Van Gogh.

It shows a bouquet of large red poppies in a white vase. From the brightness, saturation and purity of the red color, which the artist used for poppies, it is noticeable that he has already begun to master the new trends in art. But the prevalence of a dark scale on the background and a purple-brown tablecloth on which a vase stands, and several fallen leaves lie, demonstrate Van Gogh’s commitment to his usual technique.

The artist wants to highlight the brightness of the bouquet so much that it simply fills the petals with scarlet paint.

Poppies seem to cover all the space of the picture. Due to, framing diagonal and arc sweeping strokes, which the artist writes fot, the bouquet becomes three-dimensional and stretches towards the attracting gaze of the viewer.

The whiteness of the vase emphasizes the tenderness of light green, not yet blossomed, bottles.

Unusual for Van Gogh color range emphasizes a bright contrasting combination of rich pure colors.

The harmony of the color scale characterizes the picture as an optimistic and cheerful work.

To date, Van Gogh’s Still Life “Vase with Red Poppies” is located in the Wadsworth Atheneum Art Museum in Hartford, Connecticut, USA.


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Description of the painting by Vincent Willem van Gogh “Vase with red poppies”