Vincent van Gogh | The Sunflowers
Vincent van Gogh | The Sunflowers
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- 100% hand-painted oil on canvas
- Delivered Framed & Ready to Hang!
- We stretch (Gallery Wrap) every canvas
- Hanging wire is attached to the back
- 100% Money Back Guarantee · Australian Owned
- Any questions? Please call us on 1300 90 21 53
About The Sunflowers by Vincent van Gogh
Van Gogh painted his sunflowers in Arles across the late summer of 1888 and into 1889, in a burst of optimism. He was preparing the Yellow House for Paul Gauguin's arrival and wanted the guest room lined with them — a decoration, he told his brother Theo, of nothing but large sunflowers.
The series is a study in a single colour. Van Gogh set yellow against yellow — blooms, vase, table and background all pitched in tones of the new chrome yellow pigments then available — and made the picture work through texture rather than contrast. Some flowers are in full opulent bloom; others have gone to seed, petals curling and dropping. He painted them as they were, wilting through their few days in the vase.
Gauguin admired them enough that Van Gogh gave him one. The friendship collapsed within two months.
The Sunflowers at a glance
- Artist: Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890)
- Painted: 1888–1889, Arles
- Movement: Post-Impressionism
- Originals: National Gallery, London; Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam; Neue Pinakothek, Munich; Philadelphia Museum of Art; Sompo Museum, Tokyo
- Medium: Oil on canvas, approx. 92 × 73 cm
Common questions about Van Gogh's Sunflowers
How many sunflower paintings did Van Gogh do?
Around eleven in total, in two distinct groups. Four were painted in Paris in 1887 and show cut blooms lying on a surface. The famous ones — sunflowers standing in a vase — are the Arles series of 1888–89, of which there were seven. One of those was destroyed by fire during an air raid on Japan in 1945, so six survive.
Where are Van Gogh's Sunflowers now?
Spread across five museums: the National Gallery in London, the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, the Neue Pinakothek in Munich, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the Sompo Museum in Tokyo. No single gallery holds more than two.
Why did Van Gogh paint sunflowers?
As decoration, and as a welcome. He was furnishing the Yellow House in Arles ahead of Gauguin coming to live and work with him, and wanted the guest room hung with them. He also treated the flower as his own signature subject — he associated yellow with warmth, gratitude and light.
How much are the Sunflowers worth?
The versions in public collections are not for sale. The last to change hands sold in 1987 for £24.75 million, then a world record for any painting, and it now hangs in the Sompo Museum in Tokyo. A comparable sale today would be expected to reach many times that.
What do the sunflowers symbolise?
Van Gogh never fixed a single meaning to them, but he linked yellow with gratitude and light, and the series is usually read as a cycle rather than a still life. Within one canvas the flowers move from full bloom to collapse — which is why they rarely feel merely decorative.
Own a hand-painted Sunflowers
This is not a print. Every painting we sell is reproduced in oils on canvas, by hand, by professional artists — no giclée, no computer-generated technique.
It matters here because of how little the picture relies on colour contrast. Almost everything in Sunflowers is yellow — flowers, vase, table, wall. What separates one form from another is the paint itself: ridged, loaded strokes standing up off the canvas, catching light at different angles so the blooms read as distinct. Print that and you get the hue but a flat surface, and the flowers merge. Painted by hand in oils, the texture that does the drawing comes back.
- A range of sizes — choose yours above.
- Framed and ready to hang, gallery wrap, or rolled canvas if you would rather frame it yourself.
- 30-day money-back guarantee, no questions.
- Free delivery Australia-wide. Australian owned and operated, with a local contact you can actually reach.
Framing Options: You have 3 choices
Option 1. Choose an outer frame - see images below.
You only need to choose one and the painting will be sent to you framed and ready to hang.
* Below is an example of a customer who chose the Gold Ornate frame
Option 2: Choose a Gallery Wrap Stretched Painting.
If you want the frameless modern gallery wrap look then you only need to choose Stretched Gallery Wrap from the finish option dropdown.
You receive your stretched gallery wrap painting ready to hang - with a hanging wire attached behind.
The back of the Stretched Gallery Wrap looks like the image below - it has a hanging wire!
Option 3: Choose Canvas Only if you want to frame the painting yourself.
Your painting will be sent to you in an art tube - you can then frame it yourself or take it to your local framer.
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The quality of the work is ten out of ten. The piece was affordable and the turnaround time was quite quick. What you see is what you get. I’ll definitely be getting my next painting from Direct Art Australia.
My wife already had a couple of pieces of custom ordered paintings she had collected throughout the last few years and with your large selection to choose from she found the perfect complimentary piece to finish off her room.
Great painting. Brightens up my living room.
Amazing piece…. even better than I expected. Thoroughly recommend Direct Art Australia.
This piece of art work exceeded our expectations. It was purchased for a 50th birthday gift for a lady who has everything! She was overwhelmed at the quality of the painting. Thank you art direct!
Product is as good or better than expected. Beautiful quality, very well packaged and delivered as promised. Very happy indeed with this artwork.
