Vincent van Gogh painted a famous series of sunflower pictures using mostly bright yellow colors to decorate a friend's bedroom, showing flowers in all stages of life, and even leaving behind his own real paint fingerprints on the canvas! [1, 2, 3, 4]
Why He Painted Them
- To decorate a room: Vincent painted the sunflowers to welcome his artist friend, Paul Gauguin, to stay with him in a bright yellow house in France.
Fast Facts
- All stages of life: His paintings show sunflowers fresh and open, but also wilting and dropping seeds.
- Painting fast: He had to wake up super early and paint fast before the cut flowers died in the sun.
- Real fingerprints: Scientists found real fingerprints pressed into the thick paint by Vincent's own hands.
- Check out my Art Lessons Featuring Van Gogh