Irises by Vincent Van Gogh are one of the most famous and memorable subjects of the great Dutch painter. Written a year before the artist's death, Iri...
Painting "Irises" by Van Gogh: description of where the original is located
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08.06.2018 01:00"Irises" by Vincent van Gogh is one of the most famous and memorable subjects of the great Dutch painter. Painted a year before the artist’s death, “Irises” became like an outlet in his work, striking with its liveliness, delicate color rendering and general tranquility of the plot.
History of creation
The artist himself spoke of this painting as a “lightning rod for his illness,” since it was painted during treatment in the hospital at the monastery of Saint-Rémy de Provence. Van Gogh’s “Irises” really had a positive impact on the general psychological condition artist. Vincent suffered from bipolar personality disorder, but treatment at Saint-Rémy actually seemed to benefit him. In letters to his brother, the artist wrote that he was inspired by rural landscapes, young, cheerful village women and flowers, lush flower beds spread throughout the hospital. Modern photo Hospital Saint-Rémy de Provence is presented below.
We also present to your attention Saint-Rémy de Provence in Van Gogh’s painting. This work became quite famous.
While painting Irises, the artist felt that he could hold back attacks of illness while working. This awareness probably gave the picture such an irresistible feeling of thirst for life and craving for beauty. Unfortunately, this painting was not the starting point, but the final one - after it, the plots became more intense and expressive, until they reached their highest intensity in the painting “Wheat Field with Crows,” which became the last in the artist’s life. Van Gogh seemed to create “Irises” in the last fit of life-loving harmony, having painted them a year before his death.
The world also saw such a work as “Wheat Field with Crows” (1890). You can see it below.
"Irises" by Van Gogh - description of the painting
This canvas contains all the features characteristic of the painter’s style: fast, curved strokes, giving the painting the illusion of movement and life. All his landscapes have the feeling of a light breeze swaying the trees, grass and flowers. It’s the same in “Irises” - they seem to move, swayed by gusts of wind. Van Gogh’s favorite mixture of the genres of Japanese engraving and impressionism is also present. But there is something that still distinguishes the picture from others: firstly, this is the perspective - the artist seems to be lying on the ground, looking at the flowers directly in front of him, even slightly from bottom to top.
The horizon is not visible, and the center of the picture visually shifts to the right - here the bouquet of irises is most clearly and expressively depicted, while on the left and in the depths the flowers are slightly blurred and distant. The cluster of irises on the right is balanced by a patch of bare, orange-hued ground on the left. Bright, cheerful irises covering the horizon allow the viewer to literally immerse themselves in the flower garden. Rich patches of violet-blue flowers combine exquisitely with long, graceful, bright green leaves (a clear reference to Japanese decorative style).
Japanese prints depicting irises convey all the beauty of these flowers.
Where is the original?
The Getty Museum has been exhibiting the canvas that Van Gogh sincerely loved, “Irises,” since 1990. This is one of the few paintings by the artist exhibited during his lifetime. Through the efforts of the artist's brother, Theo Van Gogh, the painting was presented at the Salon of Independent Artists in Paris in September 1889. A year after the artist’s death, in 1891, “Irises” was acquired by Octave Mirbeau - French writer and art connoisseur. His photo is presented below.
He bought it not alone, but together with another famous painting by Van Gogh - “Sunflowers”. He paid 600 francs for two paintings.
In 1987, the original Van Gogh painting “Irises” was sold at auction for a then-record sum of $53.9 million. The buyer was businessman and crime boss Alan Bond, but he suddenly didn't have enough money to complete the deal. The painting was withdrawn from auction, and only in 1990 Van Gogh’s “Irises” was acquired by the Getty Museum in Los Angeles.
This museum was founded by oil magnate Jean Paul Getty and to this day is the most major museum arts throughout the West Coast of the United States. The original "Irises" by Van Gogh is the only painting by this artist presented in the museum.
Other Irises
"Irises" from 1889 is not the only painting by the artist depicting these beautiful spring flowers. A year earlier he had written “Field of Irises near Arles.” This painting is a classic Van Gogh-style landscape: a bright sky, a field, flowers, trees and the tops of buildings in the distance. The picture is dominated by your favorite yellow and blue colors painter. It seems as if the irises are a fragment of this picture, but here the flowers are painted more carelessly, they are just part of a larger landscape.
The other two paintings were painted later, in the year of the artist’s death. Both depict bouquets of irises collected in vases. The first one is called “Bouquet of Irises”. A huge bouquet of flowers on a bright yellow background is collected in a rustic clay pot. There are so many irises that several stems fell out of the pot onto the table. This painting still makes a pleasant impression due to the brightness of the color and the previous combination of Japonism and Impressionism. However, cut flowers do not give such a life-loving effect as those growing lushly in a flower bed. Perhaps, with the irises falling from the vase, the artist wanted to emphasize his sad mood - he feels “dropped out” of society, superfluous, alien.
Another picture, although it repeats the name “Irises”, produces a completely opposite effect than the first and previous ones. This time there are not so many flowers, they fit well and do not fall out; the bouquet is placed in a white water jug. A clearly defined green tablecloth and a white wall occupying most background, make a depressing impression - they are associated with a hospital, non-residential premises. The flowers themselves are also not so bright and slightly wrinkled - they seem to be already withering, they give off a feeling of death. The clear black contours of the stems and petals are expressively decorative, again hinting at japanese art. The absence of bright colors, on the contrary, distances the picture from impressionism. Perhaps the artist wanted to emphasize that even his favorite flowers have ceased to inspire him - now they are just part of a lifeless picture.
Artistic features of Van Gogh's work
To this day, Vincent Van Gogh remains a controversial artist. Some hate him, others idolize him. But one cannot help but admit that the freshness of his paintings, the originality of color and subjects make him one of the most influential and relevant in modern world. "Irises" is one of the most bright paintings the great Dutch painter. It so expresses the uniqueness and originality of the artist that even viewers who are far from impressionism and do not recognize genius " starry night"or colorful portraits and self-portraits, they will certainly be fascinated by it. It seems as if all the creative discoveries developed by Van Gogh during his creative career have merged together.
"Irises" by Van Gogh in the modern world
Few people buy reproductions these days. famous paintings for interior decoration - dusty paintings in massive frames are suitable for museums, but not for modern housing. However, Van Gogh's work is accompanied by modern man in other ways, because its relevance is now more popular than ever. For example, Van Gogh's painting "Irises" was used as a print in the Yves Saint Laurent collection in 1989.
Other design solutions using the “Irises” plot are also relevant - they can become a reproduction on the entire wall or be folded into a mosaic of stained glass (for example, in a bath or in the kitchen). Or they can be used as prints on T-shirts, phone cases, earrings, bags and more. Many people know Van Gogh's "Irises". An original in a museum or a reproduction on a T-shirt - it doesn’t matter, the main thing is to touch the soul of a great artist.
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Year of creation: 1889.
Type: Oil on canvas.
Dimensions: 71*93 cm.
Location: Getty Museum, California, USA.
Irises
Painting "Irises" painted by the famous Dutch artist Vincent Van Gogh in 1889. This painting was created a year before the death of the great artist. When he painted this picture, he was in a psychiatric hospital, which was located next to Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, then he no longer had a chance of recovery. He was constantly monitored by the clinic doctors, as he often had attacks of aggression.
Description
This painting is very different from the works that he created before it. Perhaps the reason for this change in style was mental illness artist. This is not the style that everyone is used to seeing in paintings Van Gogh. In this work there is no tension, despondency and gloomy shades that made people sad and caused bad thoughts. This picture, on the contrary, contains light, lightness and purity. In style, this painting can be classified as a series of Japanese motifs, based on which Van Gogh painted several paintings.
Blooming branches almonds
The painting “Irises” depicts a small part of a meadow in which only flowers grow. In addition to irises, there are other flowers here, but irises still occupy main position, which is why the painting got its name. The painting depicts plants from an unusual perspective; flowers fill almost the entire space of the painting. The image doesn't look animated, it's frozen. The composition of the picture makes the eye involuntarily move to the left top corner. There is an unusual symmetry in this painting, the earth is combined with the flowers in the upper left part of the painting, and light irises lie on center line paintings.
Technique
There is a trace in the technique used to paint irises. Japanese painting. Thin light lines, filling individual elements of the picture with one color. But not the entire picture is made in this style; some details can still be attributed to impressionism. But mixing these two styles does not have any effect negative influence on the picture, but only on the contrary makes the picture even more beautiful and unusual.
Painting “Irises”, Van Gogh. updated: October 25, 2017 by: Valentina
French art critic Octave Mirbeau once paid 300 francs for a painting depicting an unusual flowerbed with blooming irises. In 1987, the same canvas at Sotheby's was already valued at almost $54 million. Alan Bond tried to buy the Irises, but he didn’t have the money to complete the deal. The Getty Museum in Los Angeles entered the game, purchasing the painting in 1990. Cultural institution gained a lot, because now one of the most mysterious paintings Dutch artist Anyone can admire it.
“A lightning rod for illness” (bipolar personality disorder), as Van Gogh himself called the painting, does not fit into his artistic style so much that it still amazes viewers. There are no thick and caustic, even poisonous shades here - “Irises” are filled with the airy softness of pastel. And it’s even strange that the canvas was painted in 1889, when the painter was undergoing treatment in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence. It is so strange and mysterious that he wrote it a year before his death. The solitude and unique architecture of French villages inspired him with peace, which became a cure for his illness. Irises, as is known from French folklore, mean the awakening of nature and the resurrection of everything dead, because Van Gogh noticed that when he painted, the disease subsided. The painting was made with the indescribable art of a virtuoso playing his last concert.
In “Irises,” the influence of Japanese ukiyo-e, elegant engravings with outlined objects presented from an unusual angle, is clearly visible. Their details were drawn, and some parts of the engravings were filled with a surreal extraterrestrial glow. The iris field is full of such peace, such lightness and transparency that it seems that this is not Van Gogh at all. “Irises” are simple and unique; they amaze with their serenity and ability to relieve internal tension in everyone who has seen at least a reproduction. The picture simply breathes watercolor, translucency and makes you look at it for more than one hour.
The perspective on the canvas, however, is unusual even for Van Gogh. A simple landscape - flowers and bushes are similar to what could be seen and perceived Small child or a person crouched on the ground. The entire space of the picture is covered with irises, only the yellowish-green grass gives a slight hint that the lawn has a continuation. The red-orange soil seems to repeat the shades of the flowers in the flowerbed. It seems that such disproportion will continue indefinitely, but a single white iris balances the whole picture, creating its harmony.
It is also interesting that “Irises” is not a static frozen picture, but a canvas that has a peculiar, Van Gogh-like movement, constructed in such a way that you need to look at it exactly diagonally - from left to top. The asymmetry and disproportion of the work is actually ostentatious: the earth in the lower right corner is balanced by orange and yellow flowers at the club. The clarity of the horizontal picture is maintained by white and pale blue irises.
It is noteworthy that the influence of Japanese prints is not entirely reflected in the painting. It has the same graceful thin lines of ukiyo-e, amazingly intertwined with impressionistic transitions and halftones. Moreover, such a mixture of styles in Van Gogh is not crude, but quite harmonious, one that gives the painting uniqueness and attractive charm. Thanks to this synthesis of the sophistication of the East and the free-thinking of Europe, the artist was able to convey the freshness of irises and their expressive color.
He mixes shades in a special way, as if playing with them. The soft round shape of irises echoes the orange flowers and smooth outlines of the leaves. The color scheme of the irises themselves resembles colorful, calming waves, smoothly flowing into each other. Their unique energy creates fragility, lightness and airiness of the design.
“Irises” has no background, there are only warm soft shades of the earth, depicted in blurred stripes, and the warming glow of a flower bed. The kind that penetrates from the painting into external world and gives it visibility and tenderness. The use of different shades of green, yellow and purple creates a real rhythm of colors, and the regularity of the lines gives the drawing completeness. The rich and at the same time delicate selection of colors is so amazing that the flowers seem weightless.
However, the picture is bright and dynamic, it can freeze and come to life a second later. Simple, but at the same time luxurious irises, in addition to tenderness and airiness, have rich ripeness and excellent juiciness. This is perhaps the only painting by Van Gogh where contrasts are played out. Purple-blue irises contrast with the green tone of the leaves and the bright flowers in the flowerbed. The terracotta-red soil seems to beckon the plants towards it, and the hint of a jade-green meadow in the background makes the irises gravitate towards it too. The painting “Irises” is filled not only with impressionistic emotions, but also with impressions. It is impossible to reliably determine what “experiences” the flowers have at this moment; one can only capture the impression of this experience itself. Irises simultaneously lean towards the power of the earth and want to rush upward to the meadow.
The painting has a special vitality, which is typical for each of Van Gogh's works. He stands for brightness, even aggressiveness, a somewhat rattling image and the uncontrollability of life. In “Irises” there is no crazy flow of ideas and attempts to drown out the voices of demons - they contain a subtle, invaluable beauty that not everyone can appreciate and feel.
And although critics said that the paintings of this artist were stunning in their expression, that the color in his image became a real jewel, Van Gogh was destined for posthumous recognition. At 37, he committed suicide, and his brother Theo created a museum that made Vincent famous. Once art was a consolation for the artist tormented by demons, now he has become one of the already recognized geniuses who loved life and knew how to see unusual beauty in it.
Nature has endowed irises with all the colors of the rainbow: pink and bronze-crimson, azure and sapphire, lilac and purple-cherry, lemon and orange-yellow, snow-white and bluish-black. The ancient Greeks called the rainbow an iris, and then they began to call a flower similar to a rainbow in color an iris, considering the flowers to be fragments of a rainbow that fell to the ground. Irises have beautiful not only flowers, but also leaves that remain green until late autumn.
There are so many irises on earth! The dwarf iris, for example, rises only a few centimeters above the ground, and its purple flowers They seem to be stuck straight into the ground. But the lavender-blue or snow-white flowers of the giant blue iris with evergreen leaves flaunt almost a planted height.
Flowers have been known in culture for over two thousand years and are revered not only for the beauty of the flowers, but also for the aroma of the root, extracts from which are used in the manufacture of high-quality perfumes, liqueurs, wines and confectionery.
On the island of Crete, among the paintings of the Knossos Palace, a fresco depicts a priest surrounded by blooming irises. This fresco is about 4000 years old. Iris flowers are imprinted in the stone of Oriental and Roman galleries and balustrades. In the Middle Ages, they grew in the gardens of castles and monasteries, from where they were transferred to the gardens of townspeople. Even in ancient times, Arabs planted wild iris with white flowers on graves. And in Ancient Egypt it was bred back in the 16th-15th centuries BC, and it was a symbol of eloquence there. In Arabia, on the contrary, they were a symbol of silence and sadness.
The flower “iris” received its name from the hands of the famous healer Hippocrates, who named the plant in honor of the ancient Greek goddess Iris, who proclaimed the will of the Olympian gods to people. The goddess Iris descended along a rainbow to the earth, which is why the word “Iris” translated from Greek means rainbow. Carl Linnaeus, who proposed a unified system of scientific names for plants, retained its ancient name for the iris.
Florence was named so by the Romans only because irises grew in abundance around this Etruscan settlement, and the Latin “Florence” means “blooming”. Since then, the Florentine iris has graced the city coat of arms of Florence.
This type of iris has also become famous for the fact that for a long time they learned to extract fragrant essential oil with the aroma of violets from its rhizome. That is why the rhizome of this iris is called orris root. This natural fragrance was used in royal dressing rooms as early as the 15th century. From 1 kg of rhizomes, an average of 7 g is obtained essential oil which is used in perfumery. Fragrant substances are also extracted from flowers.
As a religious symbol, the iris first appears in the paintings of the early Flemish masters, and in images of the Virgin Mary it is present both with and instead of the lily. This symbolic meaning is due to the fact that the name “iris” means “lily with a sword,” which is seen as an allusion to Mary’s grief for Christ.
For Christians, the iris symbolizes purity and protection, but it also became a symbol of sorrow and pain, the reason for which was its sharp wedge-shaped leaves, which seemed to personify the suffering and sadness of the Mother of God’s heart from the suffering of Christ. The blue iris is especially common as such a symbol in images of the Virgin. The iris can also symbolize the virgin birth.
Did you know that irises were Monet’s special pride? He planted them tirelessly and everywhere.
In Rus', among the names of iris (cockerels, magpie flowers, luziki, braids), the most common is the gentle “kasatik”, that is, dear, beloved, desired.
In Japanese families, in traditional holiday boys, a magical talisman is prepared from iris flowers, which should instill courage in the soul of the young man. IN Japanese the words “iris” and “warrior spirit” are denoted by one hieroglyph. Even the iris leaves look like a sword.
Claude Monet - Iris Garden at Giverny, 1899-1900
Claude Monet - Flowerbed with Irises in the Artist's Garden, 1900
Claude Monet - Garden (Irises), 1900
Claude Monet - Lilac Irises, 1916-1917
Vincent Van Gogh - Blooming Irises, 1889
This famous painting Dutch artist Vincent Van Gogh was created by him in 1889. "Irises" became one of latest works great master. A year later, Van Gogh died. At the time of working on the painting, the painter was already terminally ill. He was constantly under the supervision of doctors in a clinic for the mentally ill. This clinic was located near the picturesque town of Saint-Rémy-de-Provence.
Perhaps the illness had such an impact on creative manner Van Gogh, but the picture turned out to be completely different from everything that the artist had painted so far. This is not the Van Gogh they knew. There is no tension, anxiety, thick colors or warm olive-mustard shades in the canvas. On the contrary, there is some kind of lightness, airiness and transparent weightlessness. The painting's manner of execution is reminiscent of Japanese prints.
The artist chose an unusual angle for his painting. Flowers fill almost the entire surface of the canvas. It seems that you are squatting in the middle of a field, in the thick of flowers. But the image does not look frozen, static. The composition is built in such a way that the gaze involuntarily rushes diagonally up and to the left. There is also a kind of symmetry in “Irises”. So the patch of soil in the foreground is balanced by the orange-yellow buds in the upper left corner. White iris and pale blue support the horizontal of the picture.
The influence of Japanese painting is noticeable, first of all, in the depiction of irises. The same clarity and subtlety of graceful lines, the same solid color filling of individual details. But the picture is not completely consistent in this style. Here you can also see the influence of impressionism. And the most amazing thing is that such mixing does not violate the harmony of the image at all. It only adds uniqueness and attractive charm to Van Gogh’s creation.
Vincent Van Gogh - Irises. Saint-Rémy, May 1890
The painting “Irises” by Vincent van Gogh was painted by the artist in 1890. Today the still life is kept in the Vincent Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam.
Van Gogh's still life "Irises" is characterized by a contrasting image of yellow and blue colors, their special color combination. Irises have a soft, round shape, partly echoing the smooth, blurred outlines of the vase. The image of irises resembles a wave-like colorful flow of color, which recreates the atmosphere of dynamics, flow, and transfusion of the coloristic energy of the canvas. At the same time, the impression of fragility, airiness, and “porosity” of the drawing is born.
The background, the design of the vase and the plane of the table are drawn by the artist using warm, soft colors. The background of the painting is filled with a single color without excessive detail or ornamentation. At the same time, the true power of color, its fullness of light warms, penetrating into many objects of the surrounding world and giving the air visibility and color. The use of shades of yellow creates a special colorful rhythm, builds reality full of harmony and the right traits. The color selection is rich, open, and without splitting into many shades. The author gives greater preference to the power of the black outline in outlining bright blue petals and fresh iris leaves in a vase.
The image of iris flowers was especially carefully worked out. Strokes white they draw out the depth and expressiveness of shadows, the volume and tenderness of complex inflorescences. The predominance of blue shades in the depiction of flowers is not total. Rather, we can say that Blue colour irises tonally softened various combinations ocher, yellow and blue.
The writing of the vase drawing is slightly shifted to the right, while similar artistic solution reinforced by the excessive “liveness” and splendor of the bouquet design on the left side of the canvas. The distant plan has a one-color local solution and is colored yellow, which looks quite simple, ascetic, coloristically monosyllabic. The movements of the artist’s brush follow the outlines of objects in their movement, sculpting the very “fabric” of the thing depicted and performing the function of shaping. The shadow pattern is not written out, the laws of the classical construction of chiaroscuro are reduced to a minimum. However, “Irises” amazes with the brightness and dynamism of the visual range, the expressiveness of the colors, within which there is a deep power of color and linear design. Vincent van Gogh's paintings are different from many academic works classical painting, and in addition, from most works of impressionistic art. Despite this, his work is full of vitality. Main feature creative method Van Gogh is characterized by brightness, sometimes aggressiveness, colors, trembling lines, a feeling of “rattling” of the image created in the painting. In Van Gogh’s works, life is uncontrollable, like a stream of consciousness or a seething, restless swarm of thoughts, ideas, whose beauty one must still be able to feel and appreciate.