Vincent van Gogh – Irises

Irises is the painting Vincent van Gogh began in May 1889, in his first week at the Saint-Paul-de-Mausole asylum in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence: a bed of blue and violet irises with sword-shaped green leaves, warm earth and, on the left, a single white flower. The original measures 74.3 x 94.3 cm and has been in the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles since 1990. We paint it by hand in oil on canvas, in seventeen sizes from 50 x 40 to 190 x 145 cm or to your own measurement, and send you a photograph of the finished work for approval before dispatch.

Irises – Vincent van Gogh

What does Irises show?

The canvas is filled from edge to edge with a bed of irises seen from very close, almost at ground level. There is no horizon and no sky: the flowers and their long, pointed leaves cross the canvas on a diagonal, and the plants at the edges are cut off by the frame, so the bed seems to carry on beyond it. On the left, in the reddish-brown earth, one white iris stands among the blue and violet ones.

The flowers curl, twist and bend, each with a shape of its own, and Van Gogh drew their outlines with dark, wavy lines. The leaves are a bright green, the soil is warm orange and brown, and along the top runs a strip of yellow-green field with a few orange flowers.

Why did Van Gogh paint Irises in his first week at the asylum?

In May 1889, after a series of crises and hospital stays in Arles, Van Gogh chose to enter the Saint-Paul-de-Mausole asylum, a former monastery outside Saint-Rémy. At first he was not allowed beyond its walls, so the walled garden, with its irises and lilacs, was the only nature within his reach. Within the first week he began Irises there, painting from life among the flowers.

He regarded the canvas as a study, and no drawings for it are known. The garden even left a trace in the paint: one of the small cones that fall from the umbrella pines there is stuck in the surface. In the year he spent at the asylum, the last before his death, he made almost 130 paintings, and Irises is among the very first of them.

What do the white iris and the Japanese prints mean in Irises?

Van Gogh left no explanation of the single white iris, so any meaning is a reading rather than his own words. It is often taken as an image of the painter himself, an individual set apart from the rest; others see it simply as a bright accent that makes the blues around it look deeper. What the painting does show is that no two flowers in the bed are alike.

The clearest influence is Japan. Van Gogh collected Japanese woodblock prints, and the Getty notes that the cropped view, the broad areas of vivid colour and the flowers spilling over the edges were probably shaped by them. He linked irises with Japan, where they were highly prized in art, and in his imagination Provence and Japan merged into one sunny, brightly coloured place. He also knew the colour theory of his day: violet set beside yellow and orange makes both look stronger, and that contrast runs through the whole canvas.

Where does the original Irises hang, and what did it sell for?

The original hangs in the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, which holds it under accession number 90.PA.20 and has owned it since 1990. It is not in the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, nor in any museum in Paris.

Its history is unusual. In September 1889 Theo sent it to the Salon des Indépendants in Paris and told his brother it struck the eye from afar and was a beautiful study full of air and life. The critic Octave Mirbeau, one of Van Gogh’s first supporters, paid 300 francs for it and later wrote it into his novel In the Sky. In 1987 it was sold at Sotheby’s in New York for 53.9 million US dollars, at that moment the highest price ever paid for a painting. The Australian businessman Alan Bond could not pay the sum, and in 1990 the canvas went to the Getty.

Irises or the irises in a vase – which one is which?

Van Gogh painted irises more than once, and the titles get mixed up. This page offers Irises of May 1889: a bed of growing flowers seen from close up in the asylum garden, with the original at the Getty in Los Angeles. The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam holds a different work, a still life of cut irises in a vase, painted later in Saint-Rémy against a yellow background. If you want the flowers alive in the earth, with the whole canvas full of movement, choose this one.

For another flower subject with a Japanese feel, Almond Blossom of 1890 shows white blossom on branches against a blue sky. From 1889 in Saint-Rémy we also paint The Starry Night, Cypresses and Pietà (after Delacroix).

How is our hand-painted Irises made?

The painter first draws the bed, the diagonal of the leaves and the white iris, then lays in the greens and the warm earth, and last the petals with their dark outlines. Our oil painting reproduction is painted by hand in oil on canvas with real impasto: the paint goes on thickly, so the brushstrokes stand up from the canvas as on Van Gogh’s original, and each flower keeps its own twist and curl.

One question comes up with this painting: which colour should the flowers be? Today the original looks blue, but the Getty’s analysis showed that the petals were first violet, mixed with a red that has since faded. We paint the irises as the original looks in the museum today, in blues with violet shadows.

Every painting is a hand-painted copy made for your order, so no two are quite the same. A printed reproduction shows only a flat surface; on ours the strokes and layers of paint are real.

Which size for which wall?

Short answer: 120 x 90 or 130 x 103 cm above a sofa or a double bed, 70 x 50 or 80 x 60 cm above a chest of drawers or in a smaller room, and from 163 x 130 cm upwards for a large empty wall. The landscape format suits long, low furniture, because the flower bed needs width.

There are seventeen sizes: 50 x 40, 60 x 40, 60 x 43, 63 x 48, 70 x 50, 70 x 53, 80 x 60, 90 x 70, 95 x 76, 110 x 75, 120 x 90, 130 x 103, 150 x 110, 155 x 120, 163 x 130, 180 x 135 and 190 x 145 cm. The 95 x 76 cm size is practically the original, which is 94.3 cm wide and 74.3 cm high, so on your wall it works as it does in the museum. A painting for the living room should cover about two thirds of the furniture below it: 120 cm above a 180 cm sofa.

Hang it with the centre of the canvas about 150 cm above the floor, and 20 to 30 cm above a sofa or a headboard.

What if I need a custom size or a frame?

If none of the seventeen sizes fits your wall, we paint it to measure. We recommend keeping the proportions close to the original, otherwise the flower bed gets squeezed or stretched. Send us the width and height you want and we will quote a price and a lead time. Every painting we make is stretched over a wooden stretcher and ready to hang.

For the moulding, use our 3D application: it shows each of our frame profiles on this subject – the application is for choosing the frame only. If you would like to see how the painting will look on your own wall, that is our separate room placement service. A plain gold or natural wood frame picks up the warm tones of the earth.

How does delivery work, and what is the guarantee?

Every painting is made to order in our studio in Slovenia, so allow 15 to 45 days depending on the size you choose. Some sizes are in stock and ship within a few days; the size list shows the delivery time next to each size. We ship it stretched and protected, framed if you chose a frame, across the EU with no customs. Before dispatch you receive a photograph of the finished work to approve; if anything is not right, we correct it while the canvas is still in our workshop. Our returns policy applies to every order.

More famous Van Gogh paintings are in the Vincent van Gogh gallery, and there is more about the painter in our article on Vincent van Gogh. For a gift, a wall art voucher lets the recipient choose size and subject.

Frequently asked questions

Where is the original Irises by Van Gogh today?

In the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, which acquired it in 1990 and keeps it under number 90.PA.20. It is not in the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam: the irises there are a different painting, a still life of cut flowers in a vase. To see the garden irises of 1889, you have to go to California.

When and where did Van Gogh paint Irises?

In May 1889, in the garden of the Saint-Paul-de-Mausole asylum at Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, which he had entered of his own accord. According to the Getty he began it within his first week there, working from nature among the flowers. It is one of the first paintings of the year he spent at the asylum, the year before his death.

What does the white iris in Irises mean?

Van Gogh never explained it. The single white flower on the left is often read as the painter himself, an individual standing apart from the others, while some see it simply as a bright accent among the blues. Both are interpretations; what the painting itself shows is that every iris in the bed has a shape of its own.

Why are the flowers in Irises blue and not violet?

Because the colour has faded. Conservators at the Getty found that the petals were painted violet, mixed from blue and a red lake that has since lost its colour, so mostly the blue remains. Under the blue top layer the violet is still there, and some brownish areas in the flowers were once a vivid red.

How much did Irises sell for in 1987?

At Sotheby’s in New York in 1987 it sold for 53.9 million US dollars, then the highest price ever paid for a painting; the record stood for two and a half years. The Australian businessman Alan Bond, who made the winning bid, could not pay for it, and in 1990 it was sold on to the Getty.

How did Japanese prints influence Irises?

Van Gogh collected Japanese woodblock prints and admired their large flat areas of colour, sharp diagonals and close-up foregrounds. Irises has all three: the bed is cropped by the edges, seen from very near and crossed by a diagonal of leaves. He also linked irises themselves with Japan, where the flower was highly prized in art.

Did Van Gogh paint other irises besides Irises?

Yes. In Saint-Rémy he also painted cut irises in a vase, a still life now in the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. The Irises on this page shows the flowers still growing in the garden bed, seen from ground level with the earth around them, with its original in Los Angeles.

Why is Irises so famous?

Its fame began early: Theo called it a study full of air and life, and Mirbeau wrote that Van Gogh had understood the exquisite nature of flowers. In 1987 it became the most expensive painting ever sold, which made its name known far beyond museums. There is more on its history on Wikipedia.

Is your Irises a print?

No. Each one is painted by hand in oil on canvas, with the paint laid on thickly in impasto, as Van Gogh did. So what you receive is a real canvas painting, stretched and ready to hang, and before dispatch we photograph it and send you that photograph to approve.

Does your Irises have the raised brushstrokes of the original?

Yes. We paint Irises in impasto, so the brushstrokes stand up from the canvas as on Van Gogh’s original, in the curling petals and in the long strokes of the leaves. Look at it from the side and the relief catches the light. A print cannot have this: its surface is flat, however good its colours.

• Subject: a bed of blue and violet irises with green leaves, seen from close up, with one white iris on the left.
• Original: May 1889, 74.3 x 94.3 cm, J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles.
• Ours: a Van Gogh reproduction painted by hand in oil on canvas, in seventeen sizes from 50 x 40 to 190 x 145 cm or made to measure.
• Worth knowing: you receive a photograph of the finished work for approval before dispatch.