In this painting, dozens of irises rise up in waves of color, like green and blue flames fanned by a wind that blows them, now flattens them, toward the left. Carried along on thick brushstrokes, it seems as though a wave of motion flows from lower right to upper left, sweeping the shapes of leaves, stems, petals, and blossoms into a wide river of color.
It is as if we are plunged into an eye-level crowd of purple, blue, and violet irises. Wherever we look, we are dazzled by a profusion of color. Painted with thick, bold strokes of paint, slender green leaves wind sinuously upward from coarse orange soil. Their colors shift from blue bordered by green to a soft aquamarine outlined in heavy blue-this mass of plant forms sway like underwater vegetation in bold oils heavily plastered on canvas. From the heart of each plant, spindly stalks reach even higher than the spears of their leaves before bursting into extravagant blue-purple petals, curling about the yellow and white of the inner flower. On the left, a solitary white iris, its blossom larger than the rest, commands the swirl of purple and green from its outpost. Behind it, where irises no longer rule the field, a throng of marigolds offers saucers of golden fire to the sun, while on the right, a patch of bright green meadow hosts occasional yellow and white wildflowers and forms a glistening backdrop for the myriad blue heads tossing in the foreground. The label reads: Van Gogh painted Irises in the garden of the asylum at Saint-Rémy, where he was recuperating from a severe attack of mental illness. Although he considered it more of a study than a finished picture, it was exhibited at the Salon des Indépendants in 1889. Irises exemplifies van Gogh's practice of working directly from life. Its energy and theme-the regenerative powers of the earth-express the artist's deeply personal belief in the divinity of art and nature.
It is as if we are plunged into an eye-level crowd of purple, blue, and violet irises. Wherever we look, we are dazzled by a profusion of color. Painted with thick, bold strokes of paint, slender green leaves wind sinuously upward from coarse orange soil. Their colors shift from blue bordered by green to a soft aquamarine outlined in heavy blue-this mass of plant forms sway like underwater vegetation in bold oils heavily plastered on canvas. From the heart of each plant, spindly stalks reach even higher than the spears of their leaves before bursting into extravagant blue-purple petals, curling about the yellow and white of the inner flower. On the left, a solitary white iris, its blossom larger than the rest, commands the swirl of purple and green from its outpost. Behind it, where irises no longer rule the field, a throng of marigolds offers saucers of golden fire to the sun, while on the right, a patch of bright green meadow hosts occasional yellow and white wildflowers and forms a glistening backdrop for the myriad blue heads tossing in the foreground. The label reads: Van Gogh painted Irises in the garden of the asylum at Saint-Rémy, where he was recuperating from a severe attack of mental illness. Although he considered it more of a study than a finished picture, it was exhibited at the Salon des Indépendants in 1889. Irises exemplifies van Gogh's practice of working directly from life. Its energy and theme-the regenerative powers of the earth-express the artist's deeply personal belief in the divinity of art and nature.
