Vincent van Gogh’s Sunflowers are among his most famous works, and are some of the most iconic paintings in the world. In an extraordinary exhibition, the Van Gogh Museum took a new and revealing look at the five publicly-owned versions of sunflowers in a vase. And once again, the Van Gogh museum opened its doors exclusively to Exhibition on Screen.
They are immediately recognizable, but the film goes beyond the surface to explore the many questions and mysteries that surround these works. Why, for example, did Van Gogh choose the exotic sunflower with its long stem and golden crown? Indeed, when did the flower itself arrive in Europe and how had previous artists reacted to it? What was Van Gogh trying to say with his works and how does that differ from version to version? And what secrets did scientists discover when they analyzed the work in detail? All is revealed in this fascinating film, which traveled beyond Amsterdam to Tokyo, Philadelphia, London and Munich to film, in incredible high-definition detail, all five of the works.
Documentary film directed by David Bickerstaff. Runtime 85 minutes.
Image courtesy of Exhibition on Screen
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