The Bouquet of sunflowers by Monet
Before the yellows of Arles, Claude Monet painted a dark, abundant and luminous bouquet in Vétheuil. Same flower, same pictorial genre - but date, palette, vase, touch and intention are profoundly different.
The immediate response
How not to confuse Monet and Van Gogh?
The table of Claude Monet dates from 1881. It shows an abundant bouquet in a dark Japanese vase, placed in front of a blue-green background. The flowers remain supple, irregular and bathed in impressionistic light.
The famous bouquets of Vincent van Gogh were painted in Arles in 1888 and 1889. They use a much yellower range, a simple vase and a thick material. The flower heads are surrounded, almost sculpted by impasto, and show several stages of flowering and wilting.
So the safest way is to look the date, the background and the vase : blue-green and Japanese container at Monet; yellow on yellow and vase often bearing the signature "Vincent" at Van Gogh.
Face-to-face
Two bouquets, two ways to make a flower shine
Placed side by side, the works are not as similar as their subject suggests. Monet seeks the vibration of a bouquet in the air; Van Gogh constructs a frontal presence through color and material.
Bouquet of sunflowers
A high bouquet, a decorated Japanese vase, a cold background and a touch that mixes contours with atmosphere.
Vase with fifteen sunflowers
A vertical yellow on yellow composition, a sober vase, surrounded flowers and impasto which give relief.
Look at the bottom
Cold and nuanced at Monet; light yellow and more uniform at Van Gogh.
Look at the vase
Japanese, dark and decorated at Monet; simple, two-tone or signed by Van Gogh.
Look at the key
Soft and atmospheric at Monet; thick, directional and tactile at Van Gogh.
Look at the flowers
Living, leafy bouquet at Monet; cycle from bud to seed at Van Gogh.
Check the museum
The Monet is at the Met in New York; a famous version of Van Gogh is in London.
Read the work
Four details that make Monet's bouquet an impressionist painting
Still life does not suppress the painter's usual research. Even in an interior, Monet observes variations in light, color relationships and the way an outline unravels.
1234An irregular crown
Flowers do not create a perfect oval. Some lean, others overlap; this asymmetry gives the bouquet immediate life.
Yellow versus blue-green
The hot petals gain intensity in front of a cold background. Monet constructs light by contrast rather than black shadows.
Leaves and stems as a bond
Green circulates from the flowers to the vase. It prevents the bouquet from resembling a simple collection of yellow discs.
The Japanese vase
Its dark decor anchors the composition and recalls Monet's interest in Japanese art, well before the development of Giverny.
Vétheuil, 1881
Sunflowers come from a real garden, not an invented pattern
The Met specifies that the flowers grew along the path from Monet's garden to Vétheuil. The bouquet thus belongs to a larger sequence where the painter connects still life, garden and landscape.
The Artist's Garden in Vétheuil
Tall flowers line the stairs and guide the eye towards the house. The sunflower exists here as garden architecture.
The light of Vétheuil
In the landscape as in the bouquet, warm colors emerge amid colder tones.
Monet before Giverny
In 1881, the painter still lived in Vétheuil. The Giverny garden did not come into his life until 1883.
Monet also paints cut flowers
The bouquet of sunflowers is not an anomaly: floral still lifes accompany his landscape research.
A difficult and fruitful moment
Vétheuil is marked by family difficulties, but Monet multiplies landscapes, gardens and light studies there.
A documented link
Did Van Gogh know Monet's sunflowers?
Gauguin brings Monet into the conversation
Yes, at least by story. The Metropolitan Museum notice cites a letter from November 1888 in which Van Gogh relates that Gauguin told him about a very beautiful painting of Monet's sunflowers in a large Japanese vase.
Gauguin then preferred Van Gogh's sunflowers. Vincent, for his part, responds with remarkable modesty: he does not share this favorable ranking. The scene above all proves that the artists were already comparing the two bouquets a few months after the creation of the Arles versions.
However, we must avoid a conclusion that is too simple. Monet's painting is not the unique model of Sunflowers by Van Gogh. Vincent began painting sunflowers cut in Paris in 1887 and developed a personal decorative project in Arles linked to Gauguin, the Maison jaune and his experimentation with yellow.
Van Gogh's sunflowers
Paris, Arles, rehearsals: there is not a single painting
Before large vertical bouquets, Van Gogh already studied cut flowers. In Arles, he then transformed the motif into a decorative series and took up certain compositions at the beginning of 1889.
Two sunflowers cut
The flowers are laid down, closely framed and treated as objects of material before the Arles vases project.
See reproduction →
The Sunflowers of London
Fifteen flowers, a yellow background and a vase signed "Vincent": this version becomes one of the painter's most famous images.
See reproduction →
Bowl with sunflowers and roses
The pattern leaves strict verticality: the flowers overflow from a low container and mingle with other species.
See reproduction →Complete comparison
Monet or Van Gogh: the identification table
| Criterion | Claude Monet | Vincent van Gogh | What that changes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Date | 1881 | 1888 -1889 for Arles bouquets | Monet precedes the famous versions by seven years. |
| Location | Vétheuil, in the Paris region | Arles, in the South | Two distinct climates and two artistic moments. |
| Background | Blue-green, deep and changing | Often yellow, turquoise or blue depending on the version | Monet opposes hot and cold; Van Gogh tests more frank harmonies. |
| Vase | Large dark and decorated Japanese container | Simple vase, sometimes two-tone and signed | At Monet, the vase carries a collector's memory; at Van Gogh, it stabilizes the bouquet. |
| Key | Flexible, fragmented, atmospheric | Thick, rhythmic, often surrounded | One vibrates the air; the other constructs the flower as a material. |
| Project | Impressionist still life exhibited in 1882 | Decoration of the Yellow House and welcome of Gauguin | The same subject responds to two different intentions. |
| Museum | Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York | Versions in London, Amsterdam, Munich, Philadelphia and Tokyo | The title "Sunflowers" is never enough: check the institution and version. |
Where to see the originals?
New York for Monet, London and four other museums for Van Gogh
The Met, New York
Bouquet of Sunflowers, 1881, oil on canvas, 101 × 81.3 cm, inventory number 29.100.107. The instructions currently indicate gallery 819.
Consult the Met instructions →
National Gallery, London
The 1888 version measures 92.1 × 73 cm. Four other vase versions are on display in Amsterdam, Munich, Philadelphia and Tokyo.
Consult the London notice →Extend the discovery
Choose the right floral universe
Claude Monet Collection
Find landscapes, gardens, still lifes and impressionist series by the painter.
Explore Monet →Van Gogh Flowers
Compare sunflowers, irises, roses, almond trees and bouquets from your entire career.
See flowers →Impressionism
Observe how Monet and his contemporaries transform light and color.
Discover the movement →Frequently asked questions
Monet's bouquet in 10 answers
Did Monet really paint sunflowers?
Yes. Her Bouquet of Sunflowers is an 1881 oil on canvas held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
When does Monet paint his bouquet of sunflowers?
In 1881, during his period in Vétheuil. He presented it the following year at the seventh impressionist exhibition.
What is the main difference with Van Gogh?
Monet uses a blue-green background, a dark Japanese vase and an atmospheric touch. Van Gogh favors a yellow on yellow composition, a simple vase and very visible impasto.
Did Monet copy Van Gogh?
No: Monet's bouquet precedes by seven years the famous vases painted by Van Gogh in Arles in 1888.
Did Van Gogh copy Monet?
Van Gogh knew the painting through Gauguin, but his sunflowers are part of a personal project started with cut flowers in Paris and developed for the Maison jaune.
Where did Monet find the flowers?
According to the Met, they grew along the path from his garden to Vétheuil. Monet also paints them standing in several views of the garden.
Why are we talking about a Japanese vase?
The tall, decorated container belongs to Monet's taste for Japanese objects. Van Gogh himself evokes this large vase when he reports the comparison made by Gauguin.
What are the dimensions of Monet's painting?
The work measures 101 cm high by 81.3 cm wide. It is painted in oil on canvas.
How many versions of Van Gogh Sunflowers did he paint in Arles?
The National Gallery has seven vase still lifes made in 1888 - 1889. Five are now visible in museums, one is private and one has been destroyed.
Which painting is suitable for a softer decoration?
The Monet offers more greens and depth, with a more nuanced contrast. Van Gogh's yellow versions create a more solar and frontal focal point.
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