Van Gogh. Vase with Iris on a yellow background

Vase with iris it is a fairly large oil painting on canvas measuring 92x73.5 cm from 1889. It is preserved in Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. It is also known as the Vase with Iris on a Yellow Background, to distinguish it from the vase with Iris at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York which has a white background.

It is one of the very few still lifes from the period when Van Gogh was a guest in the asylum of Saint Remy because the rich surrounding landscape attracted him the most.

Of this picture Van Gogh himself writes: "... the large bouquet of Iris with tones that will reach carmine and pure Prussian blue, will stand out against a bright cedar yellow background, with other tones of yellow in the vase and in its support, so that the effect will be that of tremendously complementary colors distant from each other, which strengthen each other "

It should be noted that although Van Gogh is regarded as an instinctive and passionate painter, here exactly describes the picture as he will paint it.

This means that in reality Vincent first created a perfect mental image of the final result and then realized it

The vase and the bottom are very reminiscent of his sunflowers, but here the flowers are purple-blue which is a complementary color of yellow creating a strong brightness.

The brushstroke is relaxed and fluid, compared to his other paintings. Van Gogh felt calm and relaxed and knew that he would soon be out of the hospital and, of course, this cheered him up.