Sunflowers appear amid the variegated bouquets that were the mainstay of Van Gogh's work in Paris in 1886–88. Intent upon updating his lackluster Dutch palette, he repeatedly turned to "painting flowers" so as "to render intense color and not a gray harmony." By the summer of 1887, when he adopted the sunflower as the dominant motif in four pictures, he had found his voice as an original colorist. Apparently conceived in sequence, this group comprises a preparatory oil sketch for the Metropolitan's canvas (Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam); another oil also devoted to two cut sunflowers (Kunstmuseum Bern); and a larger composition that sets forth a composite image of the two pairs of flowers (Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo). Paul Gauguin acquired the two smaller canvases, and until the mid-1890s, when he sold his most prized possessions to finance his South Seas voyage, they held pride of place above the bed in his Paris apartment.

Inscription: Signed and dated (lower left): Vincent 87

Paul Gauguin, Paris (1887/88–96; acquired late 1887 or early 1888 from the artist by exchange; consigned to Vollard in 1895–96; sold on April 10, 1896, for Fr 225 through Georges Chaudet to Vollard); [Ambroise Vollard, Paris, from 1896; sold on either September 1, 1897, May 17, 1899, or July 12, 1899, to Hoogendijk]; Cornelis Hoogendijk, The Hague (1897 or 1899–d. 1911; his estate sale, Frederik Muller, Amsterdam, May 21, 1912, no. 31); Alphonse Kann, Paris (until 1917; sold on December 19, 1917, for Fr 32,000 through Carl Montag to Bühler); E. Richard Bühler, Winterthur, Switzerland (1917–47; half share sold on October 1, 1928 to Thannhauser, stock no. 1002; in exchange for half share in a Daumier painting, remaining half share transferred in 1947 to Thannhauser); [Justin K. Thannhauser, Lucerne, Paris, and New York, 1928–49; from 1947, half share with Galerie Rosengart, Lucerne, stock no. 1031; sold by Thannhauser, New York in 1949 to MMA]

Paris. Grand Bouillon-Restaurant du Chalet. November–December 1887, no catalogue [see Ref. Pickvance 1984 and Ref. Welsh-Ovcharov 1988].

Kunsthaus Zürich. "Französische Kunst des XIX. und XX. Jahrhunderts," October 5–November 14, 1917, no. 109 (lent by A. K.).

Kunstverein Winterthur. "Meisterwerke aus Schweizer Privatbesitz," August 20–October 8, 1922, no. 52 (lent by E. Richard Bühler, Winterthur) [see Ref. La Faille 1928 and correspondence in archive file].

Kunstmuseum Basel. "Loan exhibition," 1932, no catalogue? [see notes in archive file].

Amsterdam. Stedelijk Museum. "Masterworks of the 19th and 20th Centuries," 1938, no catalogue? [see notes in archive file].

Pittsburgh. Carnegie Institute. "An Exhibition of Modern Dutch Art: 14 Paintings by Vincent van Gogh and Work by Contemporary Dutch Atists," February 5–March 1, 1943, cat. supplement (lent by J. K. Thannhauser) [see correspondence in archive file].

Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. "Five Centuries of Dutch Art," March 9–April 9, 1944, no. 120 (lent by J. K. Thannhauser, Esq., New York).

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Van Gogh: Paintings and Drawings," October 21, 1949–January 15, 1950, no. 60.

Art Institute of Chicago. "Van Gogh: Paintings and Drawings," February 1–April 15, 1950, no. 60.

Houston. Contemporary Arts Museum. "Vincent van Gogh," February 4–25, 1951, no. 5.

Utica, N.Y. Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute. "Masterpieces of French Impressionist Painting," March 29–April 26, 1953, no catalogue (continuing series of one painting at a time).

New York. Wildenstein. "Van Gogh," March 24–April 30, 1955, no. 12.

New York. Helena Rubenstein, Inc.. November 21–29, 1963, no catalogue.

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Van Gogh as Critic and Self-Critic," October 30, 1973–January 6, 1974, no. 6.

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Van Gogh in Arles," October 18–December 30, 1984, no. 3.

Amsterdam. Rijksmuseum Vincent van Gogh. "Vincent van Gogh: Paintings," March 30–July 29, 1990, no. 17 (as "Still-Life with Two Sunflowers").

Art Institute of Chicago. "Van Gogh and Gauguin: The Studio of the South," September 22, 2001–January 13, 2002, no. 23 (as "Two Sunflowers").

Amsterdam. Van Gogh Museum. "Van Gogh and Gauguin: The Studio of the South," February 9–June 2, 2002, no. 23 (as "Two Sunflowers").

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Cézanne to Picasso: Ambroise Vollard, Patron of the Avant-Garde," September 13, 2006–January 7, 2007, no. 113.

Art Institute of Chicago. "Cézanne to Picasso: Ambroise Vollard, Patron of the Avant-Garde," February 17–May 13, 2007, no. 113.

Paris. Musée d'Orsay. "De Cézanne à Picasso: Chefs d'oeuvre de la galerie Vollard," June 19–September 16, 2007, no. 147.

Vincent van Gogh. Letter to his brother Theo. [July 15, 1888] [published in "The Complete Letters of Vincent van Gogh," 3 vols., Greenwich, Conn., 1958, vol. 2, p. 612, letter no. 510], writes that he exchanged works with Gauguin at the exhibition held in Paris in 1887.

Vincent van Gogh. Letter to his sister Willemien. [between July 29 and August 15, 1888] [published in "The Complete Letters of Vincent van Gogh," 3 vols., Greenwich, Conn., 1958, vol. 3, p. 440, letter no. W5], mentions that he and Theo have a Gauguin painting of a Martinique landscape (W222; Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam), which they received in exchange for "one of my studies," probably either this picture or F376 (Kunstmuseum Bern), both of which were owned by Gauguin.

Vincent van Gogh. Letter to his brother Theo. [January 17, 1889] [published in "The Complete Letters of Vincent van Gogh," 3 vols., Greenwich, Conn., 1958, vol. 3, p. 120, letter no. 571], states that Gauguin has two of his sunflower canvases (this picture and F376, Kunstmuseum Bern), "which he took in Paris".

Paul Gauguin. Letter to Charles Dosbourg. February 23, 1895 [published in James Cummins Bookseller, Catalogue 32, New York, Fall 1991, p. 25, no. 47], asks Dosbourg (Vollard's framer) to pick up from Vollard two Van Gogh paintings (this work and F376; an acknowledgment of receipt at the bottom of the letter, handwritten and signed by Dosbourg, indicates that both pictures are signed) and a Monet painting [the letter and receipt both make clear that these works were picked up from Vollard, not sent to him, as erroneously stated in the catalogue entry for the letter].

Paul Gauguin. Letter to Daniel de Monfreid. December 1896 [published in Ref. Segalen 1920, no. 27, p. 157 and Annie Joly-Segalen, ed., "Lettres de Gauguin à Daniel de Monfreid," Paris: Georges Falaize, 1950, no. 27, p. 97], writes that Georges Chaudet, following de Monfreid's advice, lowered the price on two van Goghs as Vollard requested, and states that he has not heard about the paintings since [according to Ref. Welsh-Ovcharov 1998, the works are this painting and F376].

Paul Gauguin. Letter to Émile Schuffenecker. April 10, 1896 [excerpt transcribed in "Précieux Autographes Composant la Collection de Monsieur Alfred Dupont: Troisème Partie," sale cat., Hôtel Drouot, Paris, December 3-4, 1958, lot 115], writes that Vollard wants to lower the price of the two little paintings of sunflowers by Van Gogh [this work and F376], and asks Schuffenecker to give Vollard the authorization to sell them for Fr 300 each [but see Ref. Welsh-Ovcharov 1998, where it is stated that Vollard had already sold both pictures, ours more than a year earlier for Fr 350].

J.-B. de La Faille. L'Oeuvre de Vincent van Gogh: Catalogue Raisonné. Paris, 1928, vol. 1, p. 105, no. 375; vol. 2, pl. 103.

Ambroise Vollard. Recollections of a Picture Dealer. London, 1936, p. 174, states that Gauguin had three Van Goghs hanging above his bed, a landscape flanked on each side by a painting of sunflowers (this work and F376).

J.-B. de La Faille. Vincent van Gogh. London, [1939], pp. 215, 559, 583, 587, no. 278, ill.

Stephen Spender. "The Painter as a Poet." Art News Annual 19 (1950), p. 76, ill.

Margaretta M. Salinger. The Metropolitan Museum of Art Miniatures: Vincent van Gogh. New York, 1952, unpaginated, ill. (color).

H. R. Graetz. The Symbolic Language of Vincent van Gogh. New York, 1963, p. 64, pl. 27.

Paolo Lecaldano. "Da Etten a Parigi." L'opera pittorica completa di Van Gogh e i suoi nessi grafici. 1, repr. [1st ed., 1966]. Milan, 1977, p. 118, no. 442, ill. p. 118 and colorpl. 58.

Annet Tellegen. "Documentatie: Vincent en Gauguin." Museumjournaal voor Moderne Kunst, 11th ser., nos. 1-2 (1966), pp. 42–43, 51, ill., identifies this work as the second Van Gogh painting of sunflowers (along with F376) owned by Gauguin.

Charles Sterling and Margaretta M. Salinger. "XIX–XX Centuries." French Paintings: A Catalogue of the Collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. 3, New York, 1967, pp. 181–82, ill.

J.-B. de La Faille. The Works of Vincent van Gogh: His Paintings and Drawings. Amsterdam, 1970, pp. 174, 184, 626, no. 375, ill.

Bogomila Welsh-Ovcharov Universiteit Utrecht. Vincent van Gogh: His Paris Period, 1886–1888. Utrecht, 1976, pp. 110, 126 n. 62, p. 229.

Paul Hefting. Vincent van Gogh: A Detailed Catalogue of the Paintings and Drawings by Vincent van Gogh in the Collection of the Kröller-Müller National Museum. 4th rev. ed. Otterlo, 1980, p. 81 [1st Dutch ed., 1957; 1st English ed., 1959].

Jan Hulsker. The Complete Van Gogh: Paintings, Drawings, Sketches. [1st ed., Amsterdam, 1977]. New York, 1980, pp. 292, 295, 298–99, no. 1329, ill.

Bogomila Welsh-Ovcharov. Vincent van Gogh and the Birth of Cloisonism. Exh. cat., Art Gallery of Ontario. Toronto, 1981, p. 147, discusses the 1887 exhibition held at the Grand Bouillon-Restaurant du Chalet in Paris [see Exhibitions].

Douglas Cooper. Paul Gauguin: 45 Lettres à Vincent, Théo et Jo van Gogh. The Hague, 1983, pp. 15, 27–28, 253, ill., does not accept Tellegen's argument [see Ref. 1966] that Gauguin definitely owned both this picture and F376.

Carol Donnell-Kotrozo. Critical Essays on Postimpressionism. London, 1983, p. 57.

Ronald Pickvance. Van Gogh in Arles. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1984, pp. 36–37, no. 3, ill. (color), states that this work and F376 were exhibited at the Grand Bouillon-Restaurant du Chalet, Paris, sometime during November-December 1887, and that Van Gogh gave both canvases to Gauguin in exchange for one of Gauguin's Martinique landscapes (W222; Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam); dates Vollard's recollection of seeing them in Gauguin's studio to 1893–94 [see Ref. Vollard 1936].

Haruo Arikawa in Vincent van Gogh. Exh. cat., National Museum of Western Art. Tokyo, 1985, p. 204, ill.

Naomi Esther Margolis Maurer. "The Pursuit of Spiritual Knowledge: The Philosophical Meaning and Origins of Symbolist Theory and Its Expression in the Thought and Art of Odilon Redon, Vincent van Gogh, and Paul Gauguin." PhD diss., University of Chicago, 1985, vol. 2, p. 726, vol. 3, fig. 133.

Tsukasa Kodera in Anne Trembley. "Vincent van Gogh: Sonnenblumen 1887." Berner Kunstmitteilungen nos. 258–259 (November 1987–January 1988), p. 9.

Gary Tinterow in Recent Acquisitions: A Selection, 1986–1987. New York, 1987, p. 42.

Gary Tinterow et al. "Modern Europe." The Metropolitan Museum of Art. 8, New York, 1987, pp. 10, 60, colorpl. 39.

Anne Trembley. "Vincent van Goghs 'Sonnenblumen' von 1887 im Kunstmuseum Bern." Artis 40, nos. 7–8 (July–August 1988), p. 30, fig. 4 (color).

Bogomila Welsh-Ovcharov in Van Gogh à Paris. Exh. cat., Paris. Paris, 1988, pp. 154–55.

Judith Bumpus. Van Gogh's Flowers. Oxford, 1989, pp. 52, 54, colorpl. 28.

Victor Merlhès. Paul Gauguin et Vincent van Gogh, 1887–1888: Lettres retrouvées, sources ignorées. Taravao, Tahiti, 1989, p. 55 n. 2, argues that Van Gogh gave this painting and F376 to Gauguin in exchange for a "small Martinique scene" in late 1887 or early 1888, citing as evidence a Gauguin letter whose recipient and date are disputed; contends that the letter was written to Vincent in December 1887 and that it refers to the two sunflower paintings .

Roland Dorn in Vincent van Gogh and the Modern Movement: 1890–1914. Exh. cat., Museum Folkwang, Essen. Freren, Germany, 1990, p. 117, identifies a sunflower painting that Vollard bought from Roux in 1895 as F455 (Philadelphia Museum of Art) [on this matter see also Refs. Sutton 1990, Welsh-Ovcharov 1998, and Dorn 1999].

Roland Dorn Johannes-Gutenberg-Universität zu Mainz. Décoration: Vincent van Goghs Werkreihe für das Gelbe Haus in Arles. Hildesheim, 1990, p. 278 n. 272.

Peter C. Sutton. Northern European Paintings in the Philadelphia Museum of Art: From the Sixteenth through the Nineteenth Century. Philadelphia, 1990, pp. 98, 103 n. 1, on the authority of Walter Feilchenfeldt, follows Dorn [see Ref. 1990] in identifying the sunflower painting that Vollard bought from Roux on October 23, 1895 as possibly F455 (Philadelphia Museum of Art).

Evert van Uitert et al. Vincent van Gogh: Paintings. Exh. cat., Rijksmuseum Vincent van Gogh, Amsterdam. Milan, 1990, p. 65, no. 17, ill. p 67 (color), confuses the 1887 exhibition held at the Grand Bouillon-Restaurant du Chalet with an exhibition held another Paris restaurant, called Le Tambourin [see Refs. Welsh-Ovcharov 1981 and Pickvance 1984].

Joseph J. Rishel in Masterpieces of Impressionism & Post-Impressionism: The Annenberg Collection. Exh. cat., Philadelphia Museum of Art. Philadelphia, 1991, p. 202 n. 3.

Takanori Nagai in Vincent van Gogh and Japan. Exh. cat., National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto. [Tokyo?], 1992, p. 184, fig. 7.

Jan Hulsker. Vincent van Gogh: A Guide to His Work and Letters. Amsterdam, 1993, pp. 38, 53, 75, dates letter no. W5 to July 31, 1888 [see Ref. Gogh 1888]; corrects a passage in the French to English translation of letter no. 571 [see Ref. Gogh 1889].

Alfred Nemeczek. "In Paris das Fest der Farben." Art no. 11 (November 1994), p. 29, ill. p. 4 and pp. 28–29 (all in color).

Denis Thomas. Van Gogh on Location. Edison, N.J., 1994, ill. pp. 66–67 (color).

Jan Hulsker. The New Complete Van Gogh: Paintings, Drawings, Sketches. rev. ed. Amsterdam, 1996, pp. 292, 298, 494, no. 1329, ill. p. 299.

Georg Klusmann. Vincent van Gogh: Still Life with Peonies. Mainburg, Germany, 1996, p. 74 n. 137.

Juleke van Lindert in Vincent van Gogh and His Time: Still Lifes from the Van Gogh Museum and the H.W. Mesdag Museum. Exh. cat., Seiji Togo Memorial Yasuda Kasai Museum of Art. [Tokyo], 1996, pp. 62, 141, fig. 9.

Janice Anderson. Van Gogh's Flowers and Landscapes. New York, 1997, p. 28, ill. (color).

Carol Zemel. Van Gogh's Progress. Berkeley, 1997, p. 188, discusses the 1887 Paris exhibition organized by Van Gogh.

Bogomila Welsh-Ovcharov. "The Ownership of Vincent van Gogh's 'Sunflowers'." Burlington Magazine 140 (March 1998), pp. 184–88, 191, fig. 32, states that Gauguin consigned this work and F376 to Vollard after the latter's visit to his studio during the winter of 1894–95, that Vollard sold this work to Félix Roux for Fr 350 on February 15, 1895, and that Vollard withheld news of the sale from Gauguin for over a year in hopes of persuading him to accept a lower price [on the identification of the work sold to Roux, see also Ref. Dorn 1999].

Roland Dorn. "Van Gogh's 'Sunflowers' Series: The Fifth Toile de 30." Van Gogh Museum Journal (1999), pp. 48, 49 nn. 38, 39, pp. 51, 58, ill., provides detailed information on the provenance; identifies a sunflower painting Vollard sold to Roux on February 15, 1895 and bought back from him on October 23, 1895 as F376 [see Refs. Dorn 1990, Sutton 1990, and Welsh-Ovcharov 1998].

Anne Trembley in "Les soleils fanés de Vincent." L'amour de l'Art: Hommage à Paolo Cadorin. Milan, 1999, pp. 374, 379, fig. 11 (color), see Ref. Trembley 1988, which covers much of the same material.

Douglas Druick, and Peter Kort Zegers et al. Van Gogh and Gauguin: The Studio of the South. Exh. cat., Art Institute of Chicago. New York, 2001, pp. 76–78, 82, 85, 220, 352, 377 n. 107, p. 405, no. 23, fig. 49 (color), as "Two Sunflowers"; date it summer 1887.

Debra N. Mancoff. Sunflowers. Chicago, 2001, p. 92, ill. pp. 5, 13, 92–93, back cover (color, detail and overall).

Louis van Tilborgh and Ella Hendriks. "The Tokyo 'Sunflowers': A Genuine Repetition by Van Gogh or a Schuffenecker Forgery?" Van Gogh Museum Journal (2001), p. 25 nn. 51–52, following the revised date and recipient for a Gauguin letter given in Ref. Merlhès 1989, argue that Van Gogh gave this painting and F376 to Gauguin in late 1887 or early 1888 in an exchange of works; state that Gauguin consigned both paintings to Vollard in 1895 for an advance of Fr 400, with an additional Fr 225 paid in 1896 .

Hollis Clayson. "'Some Things Bear Fruit'? Witnessing the Bonds between Van Gogh and Gauguin." Art Bulletin 84 (December 2002), p. 672, fig. 2, contrasts the painting's formal characteristics with those of Gauguin's "Martinique (At the Pond's Edge)," (Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam) to illustrate van Gogh and Gauguin's different artistic personalities; critiques the exhibition's wall texts for muddling "the social and aesthetic significance" of this pair of works.

Fred Leeman. Der Sämann - Vincent van Gogh. Exh. cat., Villa Flora Winterhur. Bern, 2002, pp. 23, 53.

Paul Gauguin, Vincent e Theo van Gogh: Sarà sempre amicizia tra noi, Lettere 1887–1890. 2nd ed. [1st ed. 1991]. Milan, 2002, pp. 17, 336 n. 14, suggests that Gauguin chose two sunflower paintings [this work and F376] and gave van Gogh a small Martinique scene in exchange.

Jos ten Berge in The Paintings of Vincent van Gogh in the Collection of the Kröller-Müller Museum. Otterlo, 2003, pp. 181–82, discusses the painting in relation to three other Paris "Sunflowers" (F376, F377, and F452).

Sjraar van Heugten in Van Gogh and Flowers. Exh. cat., Seiji Togo Memorial Sompo Japan Museum of Art. [Tokyo], 2003, pp. 24, 30.

Shôko Kobayashi in Van Gogh and Flowers. Exh. cat., Seiji Togo Memorial Sompo Japan Museum of Art. [Tokyo], 2003, pp. 84, 91, fig. 7 (color).

Ann Dumas and Jonathan Pascoe Pratt in Cézanne to Picasso: Ambroise Vollard, Patron of the Avant-Garde. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2006, p. 374, no. 113, ill., give a critical review of the early provenance; argue that the painting was likely included in the inaugural exhibition of Vollard's gallery on rue Laffitte in 1895, because Vollard owned it at the time; state that Vollard sold it to Hoogendijk after 1896.

Ella Hendriks and Louis van Tilborgh Universiteit van Amsterdam. New Views on Van Gogh's Development in Antwerp and Paris: An Integrated Art Historical and Technical Study of His Paintings in the Van Gogh Museum. [Amsterdam], [2006], pp. 133, 135, fig. 124b, compare the painting's formal characteristics to those of two related works (F376, Kunstmuseum Bern, and F377, Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam), which are studies for F452 (Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo); state that this is the third of the studies.

Jonathan Pascoe Pratt in Cézanne to Picasso: Ambroise Vollard, Patron of the Avant-Garde. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2006, pp. 49, 59 n. 38, fig. 49 (color) [French ed., "De Cézanne à Picasso: Chefs-d'oeuvre de la galerie Vollard," Paris, 2007, pp. 59, 68 n. 38, p. 334, no. 147, ill. p. 62 (color)], states that it was in the opening exhibition of Vollard's new gallery at 39, rue Laffitte, June 4–30, 1895, and reproduces exhibition reviews referring to "Sunflowers," but provides no other evidence and later states that "Sunflowers" could describe a number of paintings; suggests that Hoogendijk might have acquired it from Vollard after 1896.

Laura Ann Coyle. "The Still-Life Paintings of Vincent van Gogh and Their Context." PhD diss., Princeton University, September 2007, pp. 337, 352–53 n. 296, pp. 354–57, fig. 5.95.

Susan Alyson Stein in Masterpieces of European Painting, 1800–1920, in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2007, pp. 169, 255–56, no. 157, ill. (color and black and white).

Louis van Tilborgh. Van Gogh and the Sunflowers. Amsterdam, 2008, pp. 19, 22–23, 31–32, 35, 40, 45, 48, 69, ill. fig. 20 and back cover (color, overall and detail).

Susan Alyson Stein in Masterpieces of Impressionism and Post-Impressionism: The Annenberg Collection. 4th rev. ed. [1st ed., 1989]. New York, 2009, p. 196 n. 14.

This is one of a group of four related still lifes that Van Gogh painted in Paris during late summer 1887. The other three pictures are: F377 (Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam), a smaller canvas usually regarded as a study for this work; F376 (Kunstmuseum Bern), also depicting two sunflowers; and F452 (Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo), a larger painting depicting four sunflowers. Only the New York and Bern canvases are signed and dated.