Irises

Van Gogh painted this bouquet of irises in May 1890, during the last months of his life, at the village of Auvers-sur-Oise north of Paris. He had just left the asylum at Saint-Remy and was under the care of Dr. Paul Gachet. The canvas is roughly square, about 29 by 36 inches. A cluster of purple irises fills the lower half of the composition, their stems rising from a single point. The flowers are painted in deep violet against a pale yellow background, a color pairing that Van Gogh used repeatedly in his late work. A single white iris sits among the purple ones, breaking the pattern. The background is a flat, warm yellow, applied in broad strokes. The table edge runs across the bottom of the canvas. Van Gogh arrived in Auvers in May 1890 after a year at the asylum in Saint-Remy. He was optimistic about the move and painted prolifically in his first weeks there, producing flower studies, portraits of Dr. Gachet, and views of the village church. He died in July 1890, two months after this painting was made. The irises were painted in the garden of Dr. Gachet, who was an amateur artist and collector. This painting belongs to the final phase of Van Gogh's career, when he was working with an urgency that is visible in the paint itself. The contrast of purple and yellow, complementary colors, was a structural principle he had been using since Arles. The white iris is an interruption, a single note of contrast within the color scheme. Oil on canvas, 73.7 by 92.1 centimeters. Van Gogh applied the paint in thick, short strokes, building the iris petals in ridges of violet and blue. The yellow background is thinner, laid on in broader passes. The purple and yellow palette makes this painting work well in rooms with warm light and neutral walls. It pairs with yellow accents, natural wood, and white trim. The 16x20 canvas version is a popular choice for living rooms and bedrooms. The painting entered the Met's collection through the bequest of Miss Adelaide Milton de Groot in 1967. This is a public domain artwork (CC0), from The Metropolitan Museum of Art. We print it on archival matte paper at sizes from 8x10 to 24x36 inches, framed or unframed. The image is printed at full resolution with no cropping.