Irises Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890)

Description of Vincent van Gogh’s painting "Irises"

This famous painting by the Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh was created by him in 1889. "Irises" was one of the great master’s last works. Van Gogh died a year later. At the time of the painting the painter was already terminally ill. He was constantly under the care of doctors in the clinic for the mentally ill. This clinic was located near the picturesque village of Saint-Remy-de-Provence.

Perhaps the illness had such an impact on the creative style of Van Gogh, but the picture turned out to be quite different from anything the artist had written so far. This is not the Van Gogh that was known. There’s no tension, anxiety, thick colors and warm olive and mustard tones. On the contrary, there is some lightness, airiness and transparent weightlessness. The painting is reminiscent of Japanese engravings.

In Iris, Van Gogh depicts part of a field covered with flowers. Here we see not only irises, which gave the name of the masterpiece, but other flowers. Of course, irises are central to the composition.

The artist chose an unusual angle for his painting. Flowers fill almost the entire surface of the canvas. It seems that you’re squatting in the middle of the field, in the thickest of the flowers. But the image does not look frozen, static. The composition is built in such a way that one involuntarily looks diagonally upwards and to the left. There is also a peculiar symmetry in "Iris". Thus the patch of earth in the foreground is balanced by the orange and yellow buds in the upper left corner. White iris and pale blue hold the horizon of the painting.

The influence of Japanese painting is noticeable primarily in the drawing of the irises. The same sharpness and subtlety of graceful lines, the same solid color flooding of separate details. But the painting is not completely sustained in this style. You can see the influence of Impressionism here as well. And the most surprising thing is that such a mixture doesn’t disturb the harmony of the image at all. It only adds to Van Gogh’s creation of uniqueness and beguiling charm.