Processing
Oil pictography on canvas category ‘Retouch’, prepared with natural chalk primer and glue. Retouching with spatula and brush. Use of magnifying glass for details. Maimeri and Winsor & Newton colours. Carved solid wood frame. Bolus preparation; gold leaf gilding.
History
Still Life: Vase of Irises on a Yellow Background is one of the best known still life paintings of floral subjects painted by Vincent van Gogh. The work, together with its pendant Still Life: Vase of Iris, is unusual in that it represents one of the few still lifes painted by Van Gogh during his stay at the Saint-Rémy asylum. Van Gogh painted still lifes throughout his ten-year career as an artist, from his earliest works in Etten to the last works executed shortly before his death in 1890. It is interesting to note that the period in which Van Gogh painted very few still lifes was in Saint-Rémy. This could be due to the fact that the landscape around Saint-Rémy was so inviting: the groves of olive trees and slender cypresses were much more appealing to Van Gogh, who loved to paint outdoors. Moreover, perhaps Vincent was foreshadowing his imminent move from the asylum, his home for more than a year, to Auvers-sur-Oise in the north, where he would rediscover his love of still life.
Vincent Van Gogh, Iris (RETOUCH)