Irises

from the sources

• Van Gogh painted Irises in the garden of the Saint-Paul-de-Mausole asylum, working from nature, shortly after entering it in May 1889. en.wikipedia.org

  “Van Gogh started painting Irises within a month of his one-year stay at Saint-Paul-de-Mausole, in May 1889, working from nature in the hospital garden.”

• Van Gogh regarded Irises as a study, and no drawings for it are known. en.wikipedia.org

  “Van Gogh himself regarded this painting as a study, and there are no known drawings for it.”

• A pollen cone from the garden's umbrella pines is embedded in the paint of Irises. en.wikipedia.org

  “Irises bears a direct trace of his work there: embedded in the paint is one of the pollen cones that fall in abundance from the umbrella pines in the garden.”

• Irises was first shown at the Société des Artistes Indépendants in September 1889, alongside Starry Night Over the Rhône. en.wikipedia.org

  “Irises was first exhibited at the Société des Artistes Indépendants in September 1889, along with Starry Night Over the Rhône.”

• Cross-section analysis showed that a faded violet layer lies beneath the blue top layer of the painting. en.wikipedia.org

  “invasive methods, like creating cross-sections of the paint layers, revealed that beneath the blue top layer lies a faded violet.”

• Analysis identified cobalt blue and ultramarine pigments in the painting, producing varied shades of violet in the petals. en.wikipedia.org

  “The analysis also identified cobalt blue and ultramarine pigments, creating "many different shades and hues of violet" across the petals.”

• Octave Mirbeau bought Irises from Julien Tanguy in 1892, the painting's first owner. en.wikipedia.org

  “In 1892 Tanguy sold Irises to art critic and anarchist Octave Mirbeau who was also one of van Gogh's first supporters.”

• Irises was resold in 1990 to the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles. en.wikipedia.org

  “Irises was later re-sold in 1990 to the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles.”