The Flowers and Trees of Vincent van Gogh's Paintings

“I dream of painting and then I paint my dream.” Vincent van Gogh

Vincent van Gogh was an unknown artist during his lifetime. No one knew about him as a painter or saw his paintings except for his family and close friends. He sold only one painting during his short painting career. He was unknown. Unappreciated. Misunderstood. Of course, now, he is considered one of the world’s greatest artists.

Reproduction paintings sold at the van Gogh audio-visual exhibit

At the "Beyond van Gogh" audiovisual exhibit, a good part of the materials shown to the public includes Vincent's paintings of flowers most famous of which were oil paintings of sunflowers. Vincent van Gogh completed a total of seven "Sunflower" oil paintings, although only five were included as digital versions for the immersive exhibits.

Bouquets of flowers and many landscape paintings of gardens, parks, and rural sceneries are parts of over 2,100 works including about 860 oil paintings that Vincent created during his seven years of painting. Most of his oil paintings were done in his last two years.

He was a mental basket case, considered by people who knew him as a mad artist. His most famous painting called “Starry Night” was done while he admitted himself to an asylum hospital. According to one biographer, Van Gogh thought that nighttime was much more alive and colorful than daytime, so he sometimes would paint with candles lining his hat so he could see. People thought he was a cuckoo.

Vincent van Gogh’s most famous oil painting, “Starry Night.”

“His artistic genius is often overshadowed by those who see his paintings as mere visual manifestations of his art. Even when openly influenced by his predecessors or contemporaries his art remained identifiably his own, developing a distinctive style that failed to be accepted by the art-buying public in his own time. The career of Vincent van Gogh as a painter was short, but his paintings revolutionized artistic practice and styles. The intensity of his vision, his wonderful sense of color, and the extraordinary boldness of his technique created masterpieces that exercise a profound influence on the art of the twentieth century,” wrote one art critic.

(My other article related to this van Gogh audio-visual exhibit can be read at this link: https://sansenleevendiola.wordpress.com/2023/02/24/14617/)