Vincent van Gogh – Sunflowers II

Sunflowers II is the painting Vincent van Gogh created in August 1888 in Arles, in the south of France: a vase of twelve sunflowers in every shade of yellow and orange, set against a light blue-green background. The original measures 92 x 73 cm and belongs to the Neue Pinakothek in Munich. We paint it by hand in oil on canvas, in 16 sizes from 40 x 50 to 100 x 130 cm or to your own measurement, and send you a photograph of the finished work for approval before dispatch.

Sunflowers II – Vincent van Gogh

What does Sunflowers II show?

In the middle of the canvas a wide earthenware vase stands on a table in a warm ochre tone, holding a generous bunch of sunflowers. Some show wide rings of yellow petals around dark centres; others are heavy, round seed heads, each turned its own way. The flowers are built up in thick, dense strokes, so they seem to grow out of the canvas towards you.

What sets this version apart is the background: a light blue-green, almost turquoise, calm and cool. Next to it the yellows and oranges glow even more strongly, which makes this the most contrasting canvas in Van Gogh’s sunflower series.

How did Sunflowers II come about in Arles?

In August 1888 Van Gogh was living in the Yellow House in Arles and waiting for his friend Paul Gauguin, with whom he hoped to share a studio. He wrote to his brother Theo that he was painting with the gusto of a Marseillais eating bouillabaisse, and that he wanted a decoration for the studio made of nothing but large sunflowers. Flowers in a vase do not last, so he had to work fast.

That month he painted a series of four canvases of the vase of sunflowers. Sunflowers II is the third of them; the catalogue of Van Gogh’s works lists it as F456, and it is often called Vase with Twelve Sunflowers. The fourth, with fifteen flowers on a yellow ground, is the one you will find here as Sunflowers I. In January 1889 Van Gogh painted the third version once more, and that repetition now hangs in the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

What do the sunflowers in this painting mean?

Van Gogh painted the sunflowers to decorate the room he was preparing for Gauguin, so they are often read as an expression of anticipation and friendship. Because fresh blooms share the vase with heavy seed heads, the canvas is also read as a reminder that everything passes. He regarded sunflowers as his own personal subject and kept developing it in new versions.

In January 1889 he described to his brother the idea of hanging his painting of a woman rocking a cradle, La Berceuse, between two sunflower canvases that would stand beside it like torches or candelabra. He saw the sunflowers as part of a decoration he imagined as a whole, not as a single still life on its own.

Where does the original hang, and how did it reach Munich?

The original belongs to the collection of the Neue Pinakothek in Munich, part of the Bavarian State Painting Collections, under inventory number 8672. The museum’s online collection currently lists it as on display on the ground floor of the Alte Pinakothek, in room I, so that is where you can see it in Munich.

In 1905 Hugo von Tschudi bought it through the art dealer Paul Cassirer. It entered the Munich collection in 1912 as an anonymous gift, part of the so-called Tschudi donation, and has been publicly owned ever since. The other paintings in the series hang in London, Amsterdam, Tokyo and Philadelphia.

Sunflowers II or Sunflowers I – which one should I choose?

We paint two of Van Gogh’s vases of sunflowers, and they are often confused. This page is Sunflowers II, the Munich version with twelve flowers on a light blue-green ground. If you are looking for the vase with fifteen sunflowers on a yellow ground that hangs in London, that is Sunflowers I.

If you like a clear contrast and a fresh range of colour, choose Sunflowers II, which sits well in rooms in grey, white and blue; if you want a canvas that is warm yellow all over, the London version is the right one. From the same year in Arles we also paint Bedroom in Arles and Café Terrace at Night, and from the following year another flower painting, Irises.

How is our hand-painted Sunflowers II made?

The painter first sketches the vase, the edge of the table and the placing of the flowers in thin paint. Next comes the light blue-green background, laid on in short, interwoven strokes, then the warm table, and finally the flowers, built up layer by layer. 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, most of all in the seed heads, just as on Van Gogh’s original.

The first photograph shows our finished painting in a gold frame on an easel, from the front. The second photograph shows the same painting from the left at an angle, and the third from the right, by a window in daylight, where you can see the light catch the relief of the paint. The fourth photograph is a close-up of the flower heads, showing the thick, raised layer of paint.

Every painting is a hand-painted copy made especially for you, so it carries the trace of the hand that painted it. A printed sheet is completely flat; on ours you can feel the paint with your fingertips.

Which size for which wall?

Short answer: 60 x 80 cm above a chest of drawers or in a hallway, 80 x 100 or 90 x 120 cm above a sofa or a double bed, and 100 x 130 cm for a large empty wall. The upright format works well between windows and on narrower walls.

There are 16 sizes, from the smallest at 40 x 50 cm to the largest at 100 x 130 cm. Closest to the original, which is 73 cm wide and 92 cm high, is 74 x 94 cm, so on your wall it looks almost as it does in the museum. Smaller sizes such as 40 x 50 or 50 x 70 cm suit a kitchen, a child’s room or a study, the middle sizes go above furniture, and the largest needs a spacious room. A painting for the living room should cover about two thirds of the width of the furniture below it: above a 135 cm sofa that means 90 x 120 cm.

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

What if I need a custom size or a frame?

If none of the 16 sizes suits you, we paint it to measure. We advise keeping the proportions close to the original, otherwise the vase and the flowers get stretched or squeezed. Send us the width and height you want and we will prepare a quote with price and lead time. Every painting we make is stretched over a wooden stretcher and ready to hang, even without a frame.

Choose the frame in our 3D application, which shows each of our profiles on this subject, from gold and silver to black, white and natural wood – the application is for choosing the frame only. If you would like to see the painting on your own wall, that is our separate room placement service. The first photograph shows how well a warm gold frame suits the sunflowers.

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. We ship it stretched and well protected, framed if you chose a frame, across the EU with no customs. Before dispatch you receive a photograph of the finished painting to approve, and if anything is not right, we correct it while it is still in our workshop. Our returns policy applies to every order.

You can see more famous Van Gogh paintings in the Vincent van Gogh gallery, and our article on Vincent van Gogh tells the story of his life. Sunflowers make a cheerful gift for a house-warming or an anniversary; if you are not sure about the size, give a wall art voucher and let the recipient choose size and subject.

Frequently asked questions

Where does the original Sunflowers II hang?

The original is in Munich: it belongs to the Neue Pinakothek collection, which holds it under inventory number 8672. According to the museum’s online collection it is currently on display in the Alte Pinakothek, on the ground floor, in room I. Van Gogh’s other vases of sunflowers hang in London, Amsterdam, Tokyo and Philadelphia, so the Munich one is right if you want the blue-green version.

When and where did Van Gogh paint Sunflowers II?

In August 1888 in Arles, in the south of France, where he lived in the Yellow House. He painted the sunflowers as a decoration for the studio he hoped to share with Paul Gauguin, and he worked fast because the flowers in the vase did not last long. Sunflowers II is the third of four versions he painted that month.

Is Sunflowers II the vase with twelve or with fifteen sunflowers?

Sunflowers II is the vase with twelve sunflowers, as the catalogue of Van Gogh’s works also calls it, and it hangs in Munich. The vase with fifteen sunflowers on a yellow ground is a different painting, which you will find here as Sunflowers I, with its original in London. If you are unsure which one you mean, look at the background: blue-green is Munich, yellow is London.

What is the difference between Sunflowers II and Sunflowers I?

Sunflowers II has twelve flowers on a cool, light blue-green ground and hangs in Munich; Sunflowers I has fifteen flowers on a yellow ground and hangs in London. Both were painted in August 1888 in Arles, the Munich one as the third version and the London one as the fourth, and they are almost the same size. The Munich canvas is more contrasting, the London one uniformly warm.

Which version in the series is Sunflowers II?

Sunflowers II is the third version of the vase of sunflowers from August 1888, listed in the catalogue of Van Gogh’s works as F456. In January 1889 the painter repeated it, and that repetition now hangs in the Philadelphia Museum of Art. There are seven paintings of the vase of sunflowers in all, and the whole series is described on Wikipedia.

What do the sunflowers in Sunflowers II mean?

Van Gogh regarded sunflowers as his own personal subject and painted them to decorate Gauguin’s room, so they are often read as a sign of friendship and anticipation. Because fresh blooms sit beside heavy seed heads, the canvas is also read as a reminder that everything passes. He later imagined two sunflower canvases standing like candelabra beside his portrait La Berceuse.

How did Sunflowers II get to Munich?

In 1905 Hugo von Tschudi bought it through the art dealer Paul Cassirer. It entered the Munich collection in 1912 as an anonymous gift within the Tschudi donation, as the museum records. Since then it has been publicly owned by the Bavarian State Painting Collections, which list it under inventory number 8672, so it cannot be bought.

Is the original Sunflowers II for sale?

No. The original has been in a public collection in Munich since 1912 and is not for sale, so it has no market price. For comparison, the version from this series that is now in Tokyo was sold in 1987 for about 39.9 million dollars. What you can order from us is a version painted by hand, with its price shown next to the size you choose.

Does your Sunflowers II have the raised brushstrokes of the original?

Yes. We paint Sunflowers II in impasto, with the paint laid on thickly, so the brushstrokes stand up from the canvas as on Van Gogh’s original. They show most strongly in the seed heads and the petals, as the fourth photograph makes clear. What you receive is a real canvas painting with a surface you can feel, not a flat print.

Which size of Sunflowers II goes above a sofa?

Above a sofa, 80 x 100 or 90 x 120 cm is usually the right size, depending on the width of the furniture. The painting should cover about two thirds of the sofa’s width, so above a 135 cm sofa the right choice is 90 x 120 cm. If the room is smaller or the wall between two windows is narrow, choose 60 x 80 cm.

• Subject: a vase of twelve sunflowers on a light blue-green ground.
• Original: August 1888, Arles, 92 x 73 cm, Neue Pinakothek, Munich.
• Ours: a Van Gogh reproduction painted by hand in oil on canvas with raised brushstrokes, 16 sizes from 40 x 50 to 100 x 130 cm or made to measure.
• Worth knowing: you receive a photograph of the painting for approval before dispatch.