The 'Sunflowers' is one of the most popular paintings in the National Gallery, and the most often reproduced on cards, posters, mugs, tea-towels and stationery. It was also the picture that Van Gogh was most proud of.
It was painted during a rare period of excited optimism, while Van Gogh awaited the arrival of his hero, the avant-garde painter Paul Gauguin. The lonely and passionate Vincent had moved to Arles, in the South of France, where he dreamed of setting up a community of artists with Gauguin as its mentor. The 'Sunflowers' was intended to impress Gauguin, and as a gesture of friendship. The alliance was to end in disaster.
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