The scene is very simply painted with pure yellows, browns and pale blues. Shapes are strongly outlined, but the strange perspective is one of the most striking aspects of the painting. The corner of the house was in fact slightly skewed, but the artist exaggerated the downward tilt.
Sunflowers
For van Gogh, the sunflower symbolised the sun’s energy and this had religious associations. It expressed the brightness of the Provençal summer sun and his own feelings of optimism. He painted four pictures in six days (Fig. 13.8).
A vase of flowers was a traditional subject, but van Gogh breathed new life into this with a simple direct composition and his use of colour, line and texture.
The entire lifespan of the flowers has been expressed, from full yellow bloom to wilting and dying blossoms in faded ochre.
The Starry Night
Vincent wrote to Theo of his terrible need for religion. When he felt like this he wanted to paint the stars. Paul Gauguin had encouraged him to paint more from memory and imagination so the picture (Fig. 13.9) is partly invented.
Figure 13.8 Vase with Fourteen Sunflowers, 1888, by Vincent van Gogh, oil on canvas, 95 × 73 cm, National Gallery, London.
Composition
Huge stars gleam like great yellow fireballs in contrast to the cool, undulating lines of the ultramarine
Figure 13.9 The Starry Night, 1889, by Vincent van Gogh, oil on canvas, 74 × 92 cm, Museum of Modern Art, New York.
