Still lifes by Van Gogh
Still life is Van Gogh's secret laboratory. It is through her that he learns light, color and matter - from the brown peasant women of Nuenen to the burning sunflowers of Arles. Bibelots, books, old shoes, bouquets: the inanimate object becomes, under his brush, a real character.
Still life, workshop of all daring
Van Gogh painted hundreds of still lifes. Far from being a wise exercise, it is his privileged field of experimentation: he tests light, color and impasto. From the brown potatoes of Brabant to the fiery bouquets of Provence, the inanimate object tells the story of its entire evolution.
Four families go through this work: the products of the earth (potatoes, fruits), the books (Bible, novels), the old shoes become mythical, and the flowers (sunflowers, irises, roses). Each says a moment in their life - and a milestone in their art.
The laboratory of dark colors
Living in Nuenen with his parents, Vincent painted nearly two hundred paintings in two years. Many are still lifes: bottles, pots, straw hats, potatoes. His palette remains earthy, brown, "blackened" - which Théo criticizes him for, judging these paintings "too dark" for Parisian taste.
Vincent defends this gravity: dark colors are, he says, more "realistic and mature". But these still lifes are already a crucial learning experience. He studies how light falls on an object, how shadows are tinted. Still Life with Straw Hat or bottle studies are small treatises on chiaroscuro.
"Dark colors are more realistic and more mature."Vincent to Théo, October 1885
A theological still life
Painted in 1885, just after the death of his pastor father, the Still life in the Bible is a terrain of confrontation. A large, heavy, open Bible dominates the canvas; next to it, a thin yellow volume: The joy of living by Émile Zola. An extinguished candle completes the scene.
Everything opposes the two books: the father's faith, modern and romantic the son's literature. Vincent, a former preacher turned painter, puts his own divide into it. Still life here is no longer an exercise: it is an intimate manifesto.
This taste for books as painted objects will not leave him: in Paris then in Arles, he repainted novels and oleanders together, making the book a recurring motif.
Most commented object in art history
In Paris, in 1886-1887, Vincent painted several canvases showing old shoes. This seemingly banal motif became, decades later, one of the most debated in the history of art.
In 1935, the philosopher Martin Heidegger saw "the shoes of a peasant woman" and drew from their wear and tear a meditation on the earth and the world. In 1968, the historian Meyer Schapiro corrected: these are the shoes of the painter himself, city shoes. The quarrel, which became famous, shows to what extent a humble still life can become a field of philosophy.
Beyond the debate, the shoes express Vincent's attention to the worn material, to the tired skin of an object: the impasto follows the folds of the leather as it will later follow the petals.
The joy of flowers, the company of books
In Arles, Vincent happily combines books and flowers. In Oleanders and books (1888), a pink and green bouquet rubs shoulders with novels placed on a table. For him, oleanders are "joyful" flowers, and books are companions.
This painting bears witness to the Provençal shift: the palette lights up, the impasto blossoms, green and pink dialogue. Far from Nuenen's funeral Bible, the book here is pleasure, and the flower, energy.
Sunflowers, irises, roses: color on fire
In Paris (1886-1887) then in Provence, bouquets became the terrain of Vincent's chromatic revolution. Three floral series dominate.
Sunflowers
Arles, 1888. Yellow House Decoration for Gauguin. Yellow on yellow, a cornerstone of modern art.
The Iris
Saint-Rémy, 1889. In the foreground, an isolated flower, almost white, among a sea of blue irises.
The Roses
Saint-Rémy/Auvers, 1890. Bouquets on a milky green background; pink, initially bright, often turned white over time.
Four objects, four worlds
The object as a pretext, color as a goal
Still life has three virtues for Vincent. First, she is cheap : potatoes, bouquets, old shoes - no model to pay for. Then she is docile : the object does not move, ideal for studying light and touching it. Finally, she is free : no orders, no waiting, the artist can try the impossible.
This is why Van Gogh's still lifes are so bold. They are his permanent laboratory: where, without risk, he invents modern color.
Six still lifes to know
| Work | Date | Subject |
|---|---|---|
| Still life in the Bible | 1885 | Open Bible and novel by Zola. |
| A pair of shoes | 1886 | Old shoes - philosophical object (Heidegger/Schapiro). |
| Oleanders and books | 1888 | Joyful bouquet and novels. |
| Sunflowers | 1888 | Arlesian series for the Yellow House. |
| The Iris | 1889 | Sea of blues, a solitary flower. |
| Roses | 1890 | Latest bouquets, milky green background. |
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Still life Van Gogh
Bible, shoes, books and still lifes.
See the collectionVan Gogh Flowers
Sunflowers, irises, almond trees, oleanders, orchards.
See the collectionPeasants of Van Gogh
Weavers, sowers, diggers: the entire peasant period.
See the collectionVan Gogh in Nuenen
The Dutch period: dark colors, earth and labor.
See the collectionRoses by Van Gogh
Bouquets of roses and late flowers.
See the collectionVan Gogh in Arles
Sunflowers, Room, coffee at night, orchards from 1888.
See the collectionVan Gogh in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence
Starry night, cypresses, olive trees, irises from 1889.
See the collectionVan Gogh in Paris
Montmartre, Asnières, Parisian experiments.
See the collectionVan Gogh in Auvers-sur-Oise
Church, fields, crows of the last months.
See the collectionVan Gogh Sunflowers
The Arles Sunflower Series.
See the collectionVan Gogh's still lifes
Why did Van Gogh paint so many still lifes?
Because they are cheap (no model to pay for), docile (the object does not move) and free (no orders). It is his ideal laboratory for studying light and color.
What are his most famous still lifes?
The Sunflowers (1888), the Still life in the Bible (1885), A pair of shoes (1886), the Iris (1889) and the Roses (1890).
What does Still Life represent in the Bible?
A large open Bible, inheritance from Vincent's pastor father, placed next to a novel by Émile Zola, The joy of living. An extinguished candle completes the scene: a face-to-face between faith and modernity.
Why are shoes so famous?
The philosopher Heidegger saw there in 1935 "the shoes of a peasant woman"; the historian Schapiro corrected in 1968: these are the shoes of the painter. This debate has made this humble still life one of the most commented on paintings in history.
Have still lifes changed with periods?
Yes a lot. Dark and earthy in Nuenen (1884-85), they exploded in color in Paris (1886-87) and Provence (1888-90): sunflowers, irises, roses.
Where to see these paintings?
Van Gogh Museum (Amsterdam), Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York), National Gallery (London), National Gallery of Art (Washington) and Musée d'Orsay (Paris), depending on the works.
Go to texts
- Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam - collection.
- The Letters of Vincent van Gogh - Van Gogh Museum scholarly edition /Huygens ING.
- Wikipedia (en) - Still life paintings (Netherlands), Nuenen period.
- Wikipedia (en) - Sunflowers (Van Gogh series).
- Wikipedia (en) - Iries (Van Gogh).
- Wikipedia (en) - A Pair of Shoes, Heidegger debate /Schapiro.
- Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, collection.
- Wikimedia Commons - Sunflowers (National Gallery), public domain.
- Wikimedia Commons - Still Life in the Bible, public domain.
Vincent van Gogh's works are in the public domain. Short quotes are taken from his letters (Van Gogh Museum edition). Reproductions come from Wikimedia Commons (public domain, CC0).
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