To the right is what appears to be fine green grass with several white flowers scattered here and there.
Vincent van Gogh
In 1889 Van Gogh entered Saint-Paulde-Mausole, an asylum at Saint-Remy, originally a 12th-century Augustinian monastery, some twenty kilometers north of Aries. To Van Gogh, Saint-Paul-de-Mausole was an asylum, monastery and studio all in one, which was why he so gladly opted for the isolation. Isolation was what he wanted; the ascetic in van Gogh could indulge in whatever mortification he pleased, and the painter, playing the part of a patient, was in a place that supposedly sought to encourage art. In the medieval world, monasteries had been the true home of images,- and the modern age was fascinated by the metaphor of life in a cell as an aid to artistic creativity. “Nature”, Nietzsche once wrote, “entraps the genius in a prison and stimulates his wish to break free to the utmost.” Doing without the stimuli of everyday reality was of course an excellent way of paying what one owed: van Gogh’s mode of payment was his detention itself rather than madness. His bouts of mental instability reinforced his resolve to turn his back on the world. Indeed, they were to make communication with the world beyond impossible for him.
In the asylum, between attacks, Van Gogh devoted himself to his art with a desperate determination, knowing that this alone might save him. He called painting “the lightning conductor for my illness.” And observing his continued ability to paint, he felt sure that he was not really a madman.
Irises are perhaps the first subject he did in the asylum. It preceded his first attack there and at first glance shows no evident trace of the moodiness and high tension that appear in many of the later works. He paints the flowers with admiration and joy.
The profusion of elements in this close-packed picture is tamed and ordered for the eye without loss of freedom by the division of the canvas into fairly distinct, large regions of color approaching symmetry: the cold leaf-green in the middle, the iris-blue above and beneath, and in two corners the red ground and the distant warm green, touched with yellow, orange, and white. Each region has its own characteristic shapes and spots, and all are luminous.
Most original is the drawing of the irises. Unlike the Impressionist flower pieces in which the plants are formless spots of color, these are carefully studied for their shapes and individualized, with the same sincerity and precision as Van Gogh’s portraits; he discovers an endless variety of curved silhouettes, a new source of movement, in what might easily have become a static ornamental repetition of the same motif. These wavy, flaming, twisted, and curling lines, broken and pointed, anticipate the later works done at Saint-Remy. Irises now is a permanent collection of J. Paul Getty Museum
10 Secrets of “Irises”
1) “Irises” held the record for the most expensive artwork 1987 when it sold for $53.9 million USD, which would be around $100 million in the current economy.
2) The painting was among nearly 130 artworks Van Gogh completed during his stay in a mental institution at Saint-Remy the year prior to his death.
3) “Irises” was the first painting Van Gogh started after arriving at the asylum. The flowers were growing in a garden in the small outdoor area where the artist was allowed to stroll and sit.
4) In all, the artist did four studies of the iris. The first, “Irises,” showed a bed of purple irises with a single white blossom, and the second, “The Iris” showed a smaller patch of the flowers with only a single blossom, both of which he painted soon after his arrival at Saint-Remy. The third and fourth artworks featuring irises, painted a year later, were still life treatments of cut flowers in vases. One had a vibrant yellow background while the other had a pink one.
5) Each iris petal in the “Irises” painting is unique, featuring different shading, shape and size. Only one blossom, however, is a completely different color.
6) “Irises” has been part of many art exhibitions throughout the world over the years, but only one of them, the 1889 Salon des Independents exhibition in Paris, occurred prior to Van Gogh’s death. His brother Theo had submitted it.
7) The painting has been bought and sold a dozen times, the last being a 1990 purchase by the J. Paul Getty Museum in Malibu, Calif., where the artwork remains to the present day.
8) The museum refused to disclose the price it paid for Van Gogh’s masterpiece, citing its customary non-disclosure policy.
9) Van Gogh created a balanced background for his first “Irises” painting, dividing the background into brown, purple, and green/yellow sections that impose order while underscoring the energy and motion of the purple blossoms and green leaves.
10) As in some of the art of other 19th century artists such as Edgar Degas and Paul Cezanne, Vincent’s painting style was influenced by the composition and character of Japanese wood block art prints of an earlier era, which he collected while staying with Theo in Paris. This influence is apparent in the divisions of color in “Irises,” the close-up view of the flowers that does not include the sky, and the way that the irises seem to flow right off the edges of the canvas.
Artist Abstract: Who Was Vincent van Gogh?
Vincent Willem van Gogh was a Dutch painter best known as a Post-Impressionist. He was born in Zundert, which is a town in the North Brabant province in the Netherlands. His birth and death dates were from March 30, 1853, to July 29, 1890, respectively. He lived for 37 years and experienced a mental illness that caused him significant hardships throughout his life.
He was in close correspondence with his brother Theo van Gogh, who also financially supported him. Over the years, Van Gogh produced hundreds of drawings and paintings, some of which include The Potato Eaters (1885), The Night Café (1888), and The Starry Night (1889).
However, it was only after Vincent van Gogh died that he achieved fame.
Self-portrait (1889) by Vincent van Gogh; Vincent van Gogh, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Irises (1889) by Vincent van Gogh in Context
In the article, we will discuss the oil on canvas titled Irises by Vincent van Gogh, and notably where he was when he painted it and what inspired him. Through a formal analysis, we will take a closer look at the subject matter and Van Gogh’s techniques through the lenses of the art elements and principles.
| Artist | Vincent van Gogh (1853 – 1890) |
| Date Painted | 1889 |
| Medium | Oil on canvas |
| Genre | Landscape |
| Period / Movement | Post-Impressionism |
| Dimensions (cm) | 74.3 x 94.3 |
| Series / Versions | Part of a series of four iris paintings |
| Where Is It Housed? | J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, California, United States of America |
| What It Is Worth | Sold in 1987 for $53.9 million at a Sotheby’s auction to Alan Bond, who returned it due to insufficient funds. It was then purchased by the J. Paul Getty Museum in 1990, but the price was not disclosed. |
Contextual Analysis: A Brief Socio-Historical Overview
When Vincent van Gogh painted Irises, he was living in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, which is in southern France, specifically at the asylum called Saint Paul de Mausole. He stayed there from May 1889 to May 1890 due to mental health difficulties and breakdowns; he reportedly admitted himself.
In February 1888, before Van Gogh entered the asylum, he lived in Arles, which is a city in the south of France. Here, he lived at the famous Yellow House, where he produced a prolific collection of artworks. He also notably shared the house with Paul Gauguin from October to December 1888.
It was during this period that Van Gogh cut off what was believed to be part of his ear, and the artistic duo between him and Gauguin was broken off.
LEFT: The Yellow House (“The Street”) (1888) by Vincent van Gogh; Vincent van Gogh, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons | RIGHT: Self-portrait with bandaged ear (1889) by Vincent van Gogh; Yelkrokoyade, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Following the above-mentioned event, Vincent van Gogh reportedly stayed, on several occasions, at a hospital in Arles. He had numerous bouts of mental breakdowns, which caused unseemly behavior until he moved to the Saint Paul asylum in May. While Van Gogh stayed at Saint Paul, he painted in a separate room converted into a studio.
This was also a creative period for him, and he was inspired by the beauty of the asylum’s garden and surrounding landscape. Van Gogh reportedly produced over 100 paintings while he was there.
The Irises Series
The Irises painting was reportedly painted a week into Van Gogh’s admittance to Saint Paul and he produced four renditions, or what has been described as “studies” of irises but notably also of colors. The four iris paintings are namely, Irises (1889), which is the painting that will be discussed in the formal analysis below, as well as The Iris (1889), Still Life: Vase with Irises (1890), and Still Life: Vase with Irises Against a Yellow Background (1890).
TOP LEFT: Irises (1889) by Vincent van Gogh; Vincent van Gogh, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons | TOP RIGHT: The Iris (1889) by Vincent van Gogh; Vincent van Gogh, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons | BOTTOM LEFT: Still Life: Vase with Irises (1890) by Vincent van Gogh; Vincent van Gogh, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons | BOTTOM RIGHT: Still Life: Vase with Irises Against a Yellow Background (1890) by Vincent van Gogh; Vincent van Gogh, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Exhibiting the Irises Painting
Vincent van Gogh’s brother, Theo van Gogh, sent the Irises painting in to be exhibited at the Salon des Indépendants, which was in September 1889. He has often been quoted when describing the painting and what it looked like at the exhibition, stating in a letter to Vincent van Gogh that it “strikes the eye from afar” and that it is a “beautiful study full of air and life”.
Interestingly, at the same exhibition, Vincent van Gogh’s “Starry Night Over the Rhône” (1888) was also on display, however, Theo van Gogh stated that it was not hung properly and was difficult to look at from afar due to the narrow room.
Starry Night Over the Rhône (1888) by Vincent van Gogh on display at the Musée d’Orsay in Paris, France; Adrian Scottow from London, England, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Influences: Japanese Prints
Vincent van Gogh was influenced by the stylistic techniques of the Ukiyo-e woodblock prints; he was also a collector. It was a Japanese style of art during the 1600s to 1800s, which expanded to the western countries in America and Europe and was known as “Japonism”.
Some of the main features of this style included subject matter like fauna and flora, usually landscapes, as well as people from various walks of life. The compositions have been characterized as having flat spaces and colors, and subject matter would be cropped and placed at angles, which would create more dynamism and emphasis.
This style of Japanese art is seen in some of Vincent van Gogh’s other paintings like Bridge in the Rain (After Hiroshige) (1887) and Flowering Plum Orchard (After Hiroshige) (1887), which were inspired by the famous Japanese artist Utagawa Hiroshige’s prints Sudden Shower over Shin-Ōhashi Bridge and Atake (1857) and Plum Park in Kameido (1857), respectively.
Another Japanese print-inspired painting by Van Gogh is Almond Blossom (1890), in which the artist portrayed the part of an almond tree’s branches. Like in the Irises painting, Van Gogh also cropped parts of the tree’s branches and utilized distinct outlines.
Almond Blossom (1890) by Vincent van Gogh; Vincent van Gogh, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Formal Analysis: A Brief Compositional Overview
The formal analysis will start with a visual description of Irises by Vincent van Gogh, as well as how it is composed according to color, texture, line, shape, form, and space, which are known as art elements.
Irises (1889) by Vincent van Gogh; Vincent van Gogh, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Subject Matter: Visual Description
Vincent van Gogh’s Irises painting depicts a composition filled with flowers. There is no sign of a sky, mountains, or a building, but only several purple iris flowers, most of which are positioned and seemingly clumped into the upper and lower right-hand side of the composition.
To the left, in the foreground, is a patch of open ground, which creates a subtle contrasting effect.
Close-up of Irises (1889) by Vincent van Gogh; Vincent van Gogh, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
The middleground is mostly green and composed of the vertical leaves of the iris plants. Towards the background, in the upper left-hand side of the composition, is a white iris blossom that stands out among the purple flowers. The background is composed of a green garden, depicting what appears to be a bed of orange blossoms – or orange marigolds – to the left.
To the right is what appears to be fine green grass with several white flowers scattered here and there.
Details of Irises (1889) by Vincent van Gogh; Vincent van Gogh, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Color
Vincent van Gogh’s color scheme in his Irises painting consists mostly of cooler greens for the foliage and blue and violet for the flowers (reportedly, Van Gogh initially utilized a purple/violet paint color, which faded over the years and appeared blue). There are areas of warmer yellows and oranges for the flowers in the background, as well as earthier colors like reds and what appear to be shades of brown.
Although there appears to be a contrast of cool and warm colors, as well as complementary colors as seen in the blues and oranges, there is nonetheless a color harmony. In other words, the composition appears appealing to look at and there are no areas of clashing colors.
Line
Line as an art element can include the outline or borders of subject matter as well can be different types, for example horizontal, vertical, thick, thin, short, long, or diagonal and curvy. It moves from one point to the other. In the Irises painting, Van Gogh utilized thick outlines or borders for parts of the composition, namely the leaves, the flower stalks, and the flowers. This also emphasizes the flowers and makes them stand out in the foreground.
Additionally, this was also another characteristic of Japanese woodblock prints, in which subject matter would appear with visible outlines.
Texture
In the Irises painting, Vincent van Gogh utilized a variety of rich textures through his brushstrokes, and if you look closely, you will notice the different types that match the subject matter. For example, note the longer brushstrokes for the leaves and the short and choppy brushstrokes for the flowers.
Some brushstrokes have been thickly applied, notably for the flowers, but there are areas where the brushstrokes appear thinner in their application, as in parts of the white flower as well as various scattered areas around the canvas.
Texture in Irises (1889) by Vincent van Gogh; Vincent van Gogh, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Shape and Form
There are mainly organic shapes (these simply mean they are more naturalistic and follow the forms of nature compared to more geometric or “artificial” shapes and forms) in Irises by Vincent van Gogh. Examples of organic shapes include the free-flowing shape of the flowers and their petals, the rounded, and seemingly amoeboid shapes of the flowers in the background, as well as the more elongated and curved, and limber shapes of the leaves.
Furthermore, although the composition is not rendered in strict realism, there is a naturalism inherent in the overall form of the subject matter. In other words, it is based on nature and specifically flowers.
Space
Space as an element of art includes positive or negative space, but it is also the “area” around the compositional space (as it is widely described). In Irises, Vincent van Gogh filled the right foreground space with flowers, leaving a smaller open space to the left foreground, which creates a contrasting effect.
Furthermore, the background is also filled with greenery and flowers, leaving little open space to suggest anything else like the sky, the distant landscape, or even houses or buildings. Van Gogh focuses on only a part of what is the landscape or garden. Space also suggests depth and three-dimensionality, and here, Van Gogh utilizes scale to portray spatial depth, as seen in the flowers in the foreground, which appear larger compared to the flowers in the background, which diminish in size and thus are further away.
The cropped irises in the foreground and the somewhat slanted positioning of the subject matter as well as the close-up viewpoint are all suggestive of the artist’s influence from the Japanese woodblock prints style.
Irises (1889) by Vincent van Gogh on display at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, California; Vincent van Gogh, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
