Vincent van Gogh – Irises Metropolitan Museum: part 2

A description of Vincent van Gogh’s painting Vase with Iris

"Vase with Iris" is one of the few still lifes Van Gogh created while he was in rehab after cutting off his own ear. The artist had no opportunity to go for walks, and painting copies of other masters’ paintings quickly bored him. That’s when Van Gogh began painting still lifes with flowers. Usually it was roses or irises.

This picture is strikingly different from other creations of the artist. Clear outlines of objects, leaves, each petal are evident. Coloring is harmoniously matched. One can see the author’s desire to control himself, collect his thoughts and organize at least some self-control.

The surface of the tabletop is just a green stripe, and the vase with a lush bouquet is exactly in the center of the canvas. The flowers in the bouquet are distributed quite organically, there are no voids, the composition is well thought out.

The color scheme of the work is presented in a combination of cold pastel tones. On a pale purple background the white and blue vase is clearly drawn and highlighted. The flowers look a little faded, this is done through a unique combination of shades of ultramarine, pink with flecks of white strokes. The leaves of the irises echo the color of the table surface in an original way. A distinctive feature of Van Gogh’s still life painting is that he does not paint large planes, but trivially paints with one color. At the same time he carefully models objects and forms using light and shade. A similar principle was used by the masters of etching in Japan, whose art has always been distinguished by precision, speed and clarity.