IDENTITY
Letter 740 — Restricted Sunflowers Palette
Arles, 1889
Content Summary
On or about 22 January 1889 at Arles, Van Gogh describes two Sunflower paintings made with a restricted palette of three chrome yellows, yellow ochre and Veronese green, stating that he used nothing else for them.
CONTEXT
Topics
Restricted Palette, Sunflowers, Chrome Yellow, Yellow Ochre, Veronese Green, Colour Construction, Palette
Materials & Pigments
Chrome yellow, Yellow ochre, Veronese green
Related People
Vincent van Gogh, Theo van Gogh
Paintings
Sunflowers
RESEARCH
Quotation
Research Focus
The passage provides unusually explicit evidence of deliberate palette restriction, showing Van Gogh constructing the Sunflowers through a tightly controlled group of related yellows and a single named green rather than through a broad range of colours.
Related Work / Relevance
SOURCES & EVIDENCE
Source Type
Letter
Source
Source Edition
Vincent van Gogh — The Letters, scholarly online edition (Van Gogh Museum / Huygens ING)
Source URL
Evidence Type
Primary Source
Related Readings