The Painter of Sunflowers

The Painter of Sunflowers (Portrait of Vincent van Gogh)

Artist	Paul Gauguin
Year	1888
Dimensions	73 cm × 91 cm (28.7 in × 35.8 in)
Location	Van Gogh Museum

The Painter of Sunflowers (in French: Le Peintre de Tournesols) is a portrait of Vincent van Gogh by Paul Gauguin in December 1888.

Background

The portrait was painted when Gauguin visited Van Gogh in Arles, France. Vincent had pleaded with Gauguin to come to Arles to start an art-colony. Gauguin eventually agreed after funding for the transportation and expenses was provided by Vincent's brother Theo Van Gogh; however Gauguin only stayed for two months as the two often quarreled and the famous incident where Van Gogh severed his left ear with a razor occurred after an argument with Gauguin.

Van Gogh’s first impression on seeing the painting was that Gauguin had depicted him as a madman. He later softened his view. "My face has lit up after all a lot since, but it was indeed me, extremely tired and charged with electricity as I was then".

See also

• Van Gogh's Sunflowers series