Irises (painting)

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Image:VanGogh-Irises 1.jpg

Irises

Vincent van Gogh, 1889

Oil on canvas, 71×93 cm (28×37 in)

J. Paul Getty Museum, Malibu, California

Irises is a painting by the Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh, one of the first he did while he was at the asylum at Saint Paul-de-Mausole in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, France in the last year before his death in 1890.

The painting was probably influenced by Japanese woodblock prints, like many of his works. It was painted before his first attack there; this is evident in the lack of high tension which is seen in his later works. He called the painting "the lightning conductor for my illness" because he felt that he could keep himself from going insane by continuing to paint. Van Gogh considered this painting a study, which is probably why there are no known drawings for it, although Theo, van Gogh's brother, thought better of it and quickly submitted it to the Salon des Indépendants in September 1889. He wrote to Vincent of the exhibition: "[It] strikes the eye from afar. The Irises are a beautiful study full of air and life."

Ownership history

Its first owner was the French art critic and anarchist Octave Mirbeau, who was also one of van Gogh's first supporters.

In 1987, it became the most expensive painting ever sold, though this record has since been surpassed by Picasso's Garçon à la pipe in 2004. It was sold for AUS$ 54,000,000 to Alan Bond, but he did not have enough money to pay for it and it had to be re-sold. It is now owned by the Getty Museum in Los Angeles.id:Bunga-bunga Iris it:Iris (Vincent Van Gogh)