This still life is not mentioned in Van Gogh’s letters and has puzzled scholars as to its place in his artistic production. The subject enjoys a certain rapport with the mixed bouquets of summer flowers he made in Paris; the quasi-abstract floral wallpaper design in the Berceuse of Arles (1996.435), and the white porcelain vase in the Irises of Saint-Rémy (58.187). However, the palette and style of this painting, especially its distinctive blues and ochers and graphic, brick-shape hatchings, link it firmly with the landscapes made just prior to his death in Auvers on July 29, 1890.
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Title:Bouquet of Flowers in a Vase
Artist:Vincent van Gogh (Dutch, Zundert 1853–1890 Auvers-sur-Oise)
Date:1890
Medium:Oil on canvas
Dimensions:25 5/8 x 21 1/4 in. (65.1 x 54 cm)
Classification:Paintings
Credit Line:The Walter H. and Leonore Annenberg Collection, Gift of Walter H. and Leonore Annenberg, 1993, Bequest of Walter H. Annenberg, 2002
Accession Number:1993.400.4
Gyula Andorkó, Budapest and Paris (by 1908–d. 1909); [Galerie Druet, Paris]; [Galerie Vildrac (Charles Vildrac), Paris, by 1928–at least 1930]; [Marie Harriman Gallery, New York, by 1932–57; consigned to Justin K. Thannhauser, New York, 1941–57; returned; sold on May 20, 1957 to Wildenstein]; [Wildenstein, New York, 1957–74; sold on May 17, 1974 to Annenberg]; Walter H. and Leonore Annenberg, Rancho Mirage, Calif. (1974–93; jointly with The Met, 1993–his d. 2002)
Paris. Bernheim-Jeune. "Vincent van Gogh: l'époque française," June 20–July 2, 1927, no catalogue [see La Faille 1928].
Amsterdam. Stedelijk Museum. "Vincent van Gogh en zijn tijdgenooten," September 6–November 2, 1930, no. 73 (as "Stilleven: bloemen," lent by Charles Vildrac).
Buffalo. Albright Art Gallery. "The Nineteenth Century: French Art in Retrospect, Eighteen Hundred to Nineteen Hundred," November 1–30, 1932, no. 61 (as "The Bouquet," lent by the Marie Harriman Gallery, New York).
Philadelphia Museum of Art. "Flowers in Art," April 1–May 1, 1933, no catalogue (lent by the Marie Harriman Gallery) [see Marceau and Jayne 1933].
San Francisco. California Palace of the Legion of Honor. "French Painting from the Fifteenth Century to the Present Day," June 8–July 8, 1934, no. 158 (as "Bouquet," lent by the Marie Harriman Gallery).
Kansas City, Mo. William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art. "One Hundred Years: French Painting, 1820–1920," March 31–April 28, 1935, no. 63 (as "Flowers," lent by the Marie Harriman Gallery).
New York. Museum of Modern Art. "Vincent van Gogh," November 4, 1935–January 5, 1936, no. 47 (as "Bouquet," lent by the Marie Harriman Gallery).
Philadelphia. Pennsylvania Museum of Art. "Vincent van Gogh," January 11–February 10, 1936, no. 47 (lent by the Marie Harriman Gallery).
New York. Marie Harriman Gallery. "Paul Cézanne, André Derain, Walt Kuhn, Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Auguste Renoir, Vincent van Gogh," February 17–March 14, 1936, no. 16 (as "Bouquet").
St. Louis. City Art Museum. "The Development of Flower Painting from the Seventeenth Century to the Present," May 1937, no. 38 (as "The Bouquet," lent by the Marie Harriman Gallery).
Denver Art Museum. 1938 [see Los Angeles 1941].
Palm Beach, Fla. Society of the Four Arts. "Modern Art Loan Exhibition," January 2–23, 1938, no. 101 (as "Bouquet," lent by Marie Harriman).
Washington. Museum of Modern Art Gallery. "Flowers and Fruits," March 29–April 24, 1938, no. 20.
New York. Marie Harriman Gallery. "Flowers: Fourteen American, Fourteen French Artists," April 8–May 4, 1940, no. 27 (as "Le Bouquet").
Detroit Institute of Arts. "Exhibition of Flower Paintings," May 15–June 23, 1940, no. 47 (as "The Bouquet," lent by the Marie Harriman Gallery).
Los Angeles County Museum of Art. "Aspects of French Painting from Cézanne to Picasso," January 15–March 2, 1941, no. 55 (as "The Bouquet," lent by the Marie Harriman Gallery).
Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. "Masterpieces of Painting," February 5–March 8, 1942, no. 22 (as "Bouquett," lent by the Marie Harriman Galleries).
New York. Wildenstein. "The Art and Life of Vincent van Gogh," October 6–November 7, 1943, no. 43 (as "A Bouquet," lent by Mr. and Mrs. William Averell Harriman).
New York. Wildenstein. "Van Gogh," March 24–April 30, 1955, no. 43 (as "A Bouquet," lent by Governor and Mrs. W. Averell Harriman).
Washington. Corcoran Gallery of Art. "Visionaries and Dreamers," April 7–May 27, 1956, no. 38 (as "Bouquet," lent by Governor and Mrs. Averell Harriman, Arden, New York).
Philadelphia Museum of Art. "Masterpieces of Impressionism & Post-Impressionism: The Annenberg Collection," May 21–September 17, 1989, unnumbered cat. (as "The Bouquet").
Washington. National Gallery of Art. "Masterpieces of Impressionism & Post-Impressionism: The Annenberg Collection," May 6–August 5, 1990, unnumbered cat.
Los Angeles County Museum of Art. "Masterpieces of Impressionism & Post-Impressionism: The Annenberg Collection," August 16–November 11, 1990, unnumbered cat.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Masterpieces of Impressionism & Post-Impressionism: The Annenberg Collection," June 4–October 13, 1991, unnumbered cat.
THIS WORK MAY NOT BE LENT, BY TERMS OF ITS ACQUISITION BY THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART.
Gyula Andorkó. Letter to the Directors of the Szépművészeti Múzeum in Budapest. October 25, 1908 [repr. and trans. in Molnos 2011], offers the painting for sale to the Szépművészeti Múzeum, Budapest, for 12,000 crowns; states that it was painted in Saint-Rémy.
Ernő Kammerer. Letter to Gyula Andorkó. January 7, 1909 [trans. in Molnos 2011], declines Andorko's offer to sell the painting to the Szépművészeti Múzeum, Budapest.
J.-B. de La Faille. L'Oeuvre de Vincent van Gogh: Catalogue Raisonné. Paris, 1928, vol. 1, p. 166, no. 588; vol. 2, pl. 162, places it in the Arles period.
Henri Marceau and Horace H. F. Jayne. "Flowers in Art: An Exhibition." Pennsylvania Museum Bulletin 28 (March 1933), p. 63, ill. p. 62.
Alfred M. Frankfurter. "Cézanne, Derain, Kuhn, Matisse, Picasso, Renoir, and Van Gogh in an Informal Show." Art News 34 (February 22, 1936), p. 7, ill.
W. Scherjon and Jos. De Gruyter. Vincent van Gogh's Great Period: Arles, St. Rémy and Auvers sur Oise (complete catalogue). Amsterdam, 1937, p. 196, Arles no. 193, ill.
J.-B. de La Faille. Vincent van Gogh. London, [1939], pp. 416, 568, 573, 588, no. 602, ill., places it in the Arles period.
Louis Hautecœur. Van Gogh. Monaco, 1946, ill. p. 95, dates it 1888.
Art News 54 (April 1955), ill. p. 5 and cover (color detail), dates it 1888, during the artist's Arles period.
J.-B. de La Faille. The Works of Vincent van Gogh: His Paintings and Drawings. Amsterdam, 1970, pp. 242, 634, no. 588, ill., dates it Arles 1888, but states that the date and period are uncertain, as it might have been painted in Saint Rémy.
Paolo Lecaldano. L'opera pittorica completa di Van Gogh e i suoi nessi grafici. Vol. 2, Da Arles a Auvers. repr. [1st ed., 1966]. Milan, 1971–77, p. 211, no. 551, ill. p. 210, dates it 1888, but suggests that it might be datable to the later Saint Rémy period.
Jacques Lassaigne. Vincent van Gogh. Milan, 1972, pp. 44–45, ill. (color), dates it "1888(?)".
Jan Hulsker. The Complete Van Gogh: Paintings, Drawings, Sketches. [1st ed., Amsterdam, 1977]. New York, 1980, p. 300, no. 1335, ill. p. 301, as "Little Chrysanthemums and Other Flowers in a Vase"; lists it in the Paris period, October–December 1887.
A[braham]. M. Hammacher. Vincent van Gogh: Genius and Disaster. 2nd ed. [1st ed., New York, 1968]. New York, 1985, ill. p. 76.
Joseph J. Rishel inMasterpieces of Impressionism & Post-Impressionism: The Annenberg Collection. Ed. Colin B. Bailey, Joseph J. Rishel, and Mark Rosenthal. Exh. cat., Philadelphia Museum of Art. Philadelphia, 1991, pp. 100–101, 194–96, ill. (color and black and white), dates it about 1886, relating it to a series of flower paintings from the Paris period; identifies the majority of the flowers depicted as chrysanthemums; proposes the flower paintings of Adolphe Monticelli as a possible source for this work, especially "Vase of Flowers" (about 1875; Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam), which Theo and Vincent owned jointly and which influenced the documented Paris period flowers.
Jérôme Coignard. "Le Salon de peinture de Mr. et Mrs. Annenberg." Beaux arts no. 92 (July–August 1991), pp. 69, 72, ill. (color).
Susan Alyson Stein in "Recent Acquisitions, A Selection: 1993–1994." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 52 (Fall 1994), p. 52, ill. (color), dates it "June or July 1890(?)".
Matthias Arnold. Vincent van Gogh: Werk und Wirkung. Munich, 1995, p. 836 n. 424, includes it in a list of works whose authenticity, in his opinion, has to be examined.
Katharine Baetjer. European Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art by Artists Born Before 1865: A Summary Catalogue. New York, 1995, p. 498, ill.
Jan Hulsker. The New Complete Van Gogh: Paintings, Drawings, Sketches. rev. ed. Amsterdam, 1996, p. 300, no. 1335, ill. p. 301, calls it "Little Chrysanthemums and Other Flowers in a Vase" and dates it winter 1887–88.
Péter Molnos and Judit Geskó inVan Gogh in Budapest. Ed. Judit Geskó. Exh. cat., Museum of Fine Arts. Budapest, 2006, pp. 154-55, ill. (color), discusses the work's provenance in Hungarian collections; suggests that Jules Andorko, identified by De la Faille [Ref. 1928] as an owner, is the painter Gyula Andorkó.
Laura Ann Coyle. "The Still-Life Paintings of Vincent van Gogh and Their Context." PhD diss., Princeton University, September 2007, pp. 352–53 n. 296.
Susan Alyson Stein inMasterpieces of Impressionism and Post-Impressionism: The Annenberg Collection. Ed. Susan Alyson Stein and Asher Ethan Miller. 4th rev. ed. [1st ed., 1989]. New York, 2009, pp. 232–36, dates it 1890, based on X-radiographs which reveal the canvas to be the same type used by van Gogh from the summer of 1888 until 1890, as well as on stylistic comparisons with other Auvers period paintings; notes that this bouquet, typical of the Auvers still lifes, has recently been identified as composed primarily of Chinese asters, possibly mixed with marigolds and carnations; asserts that in the summer of 1890, van Gogh was influenced by two Cézanne flower pictures in the collection of Dr. Paul Gachet.
Joseph J. Rishel inMasterpieces of Impressionism and Post-Impressionism: The Annenberg Collection. Ed. Susan Alyson Stein and Asher Ethan Miller. 4th rev. ed. [1st ed., 1989]. New York, 2009, pp. 229–32, no. 43, ill. (color).
Ella Hendriks et al. Vincent van Gogh: Paintings. Vol. 2, Antwerp & Paris, 1885–1888: Van Gogh Museum. Amsterdam, 2011, p. 571 n. 2.
Péter Molnos. The First Hungarian Who Have [sic] Owned a Van Gogh. Budapest, 2011, ill. (color, overall, detail, and gallery installation) [http://www.kieselbach.hu/news/first-hungarian-to-have-owned-a-van-gogh], discusses Andorkó's ownership of the painting and his biography.
Catherine Restrepo. "Bouquet of Flowers in a Vase: Van Gogh's 'Unexpected' Painting." Providence College Art Journal 2012, no. 1 (2012), pp. 24–26, 28–31, 32 n. 25, fig. 1 (color), argues for a date for the painting during Van Gogh's Arles period.
Walter Feilchenfeldt. Vincent van Gogh: The Years in France. Complete Paintings 1886–1890. London, 2013, pp. 248, 284, 313, 315–16, 343, 345 [1st German ed., 2009], as"Wild Flowers in a Vase," dated May 24, 1890.
Peter Schjeldahl. "A Visit with Vincent." The New Yorker. August 12, 2014, unpaginated, ill. (color) [online only: http://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/visit-vincent].
Monique Hageman and Nora Koldehoff inThe Thannhauser Gallery: Marketing Van Gogh. Ed. Stefan Koldehoff and Chris Stolwijk. Brussels, 2017, pp. 98, 312.
Stefan Koldehoff inThe Thannhauser Gallery: Marketing Van Gogh. Ed. Stefan Koldehoff and Chris Stolwijk. Brussels, 2017, p. 274, no. 92, ill. p. 275 (color).
Nora Koldehoff inThe Thannhauser Gallery: Marketing Van Gogh. Ed. Stefan Koldehoff and Chris Stolwijk. Brussels, 2017, p. 305.
Dorota Chudzicka inVan Gogh in America. Ed. Jill Shaw. Exh. cat., Detroit Institute of Arts. Detroit, 2022, pp. 222, 228 n. 143.
Nienke Bakker et al. inVan Gogh in Auvers-sur-Oise: His Final Months. Ed. Nienke Bakker et al. Exh. cat., Van Gogh Museum. Amsterdam, 2023, pp. 12–13, calls it the artist's most exuberant bouquet of flowers from the period.
Nienke Bakker inVan Gogh in Auvers-sur-Oise: His Final Months. Ed. Nienke Bakker et al. Exh. cat., Van Gogh Museum. Amsterdam, 2023, pp. 91, 94, 225 n. 34, colorpl. 84, calls its high degree of stylization atypical for his Auvers period.
Bregje Gerritse and Sara Tas inVan Gogh in Auvers-sur-Oise: His Final Months. Ed. Nienke Bakker et al. Exh. cat., Van Gogh Museum. Amsterdam, 2023, p. 233 n. 36, note that the picture is among four possible works to have been given to the Auvers village doctor Mazery.
Louis van Tilborgh and Teio Meedendorp inVan Gogh in Auvers-sur-Oise: His Final Months. Ed. Nienke Bakker et al. Exh. cat., Van Gogh Museum. Amsterdam, 2023, pp. 204, 210, no. 25, ill. (color), suggest the picture was painted at the senior Dr. Gachet's home, a painting trend for the artist which occurred between late May and July 1890; date it to the first half of June 1890.
This picture is reproduced in a Eugène Druet photograph (pl. 63, no. 24/30–46066, ca. 1900–1910, collection Le fonds Druet-Vizzavona, Médiathèque de l’architecture et du patrimoine, Fort de Saint-Cyr, Montigny-le-Bretonneux, France).
This work may not be lent, by terms of its acquisition by The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Near the end of his life, Vincent van Gogh moved from Paris to the city of Arles in southeastern France, where he experienced the most productive period of his artistic career.
Vincent van Gogh (Dutch, Zundert 1853–1890 Auvers-sur-Oise)
mid-July, 1883
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