Sunflowers, 1888
Vincent van Gogh 

Sunflowers was painted during a rare period of excited optimism, while Van Gogh awaited the arrival of his hero, the avant-garde painter Paul Gauguin. The lonely and passionate Vincent had moved to Arles, in the South of France, where he dreamed of setting up a community of artists with Gauguin as its mentor. 

Sunflowers had a special significance for Van Gogh. He made 11 paintings of them.Yellow, for him, was an emblem of happiness – in Dutch literature, the sunflower was a symbol of devotion and loyalty. In their various stages of decay, these flowers also remind us of the cycle of life and death.

In February 1888 Van Gogh moved to Arles in the South of France, but suffered terribly from isolation and loneliness. His dream was to set up an artists’ colony based in the yellow house he had rented. That spring he invited Paul Gauguin to join him. He embarked on a prolific summer of painting, intending to show Gauguin what he could achieve. Gauguin finally arrived in October, but instead of the inspiring, artistic partnership that Van Gogh had envisaged, the two agreed on very little, and as Gauguin said ‘certainly not on painting’. Van Gogh found Gauguin’s criticisms agonising, and they made him increasingly mentally unstable, but he found Gauguin’s decision to leave in December even more unbearable.

This painting is defiantly one of my favorites. It holds a profound meaning for me- I kind of see it as always seeing the best in people. A trait that seems to be more hurtful than helpful. 

(Source: nationalgallery.org.uk)