With Art Philadelphia

This now iconic still life of sunflowers in a simple clay pot is one of four such paintings created by Vincent van Gogh in Arles, France during August and September of 1888. The sunflowers were in bloom and van Gogh painted them each day from morning on, attempting to catch them before they faded. He painted the series to decorate a bedroom for his friend, Paul Gauguin, who would visit him that October.