Vase with Twelve Sunflowers

Sunflowers was a painting by Vincent van Gogh. He dedicated it to Amy Pond, who had suggested he painted sunflowers.

Vincent said he found them complex, half-living and half-dying, and thought it would be a challenge. After falling in love with Amy and being shown how beloved his paintings would be in the future, he decided to reconsider her suggestion, and actually painted it.

The painting was on display in a section of Musée d'Orsay dedicated specifically to van Gogh. As they were just leaving the museum for the third time, the Eleventh Doctor and Amy noticed the painting, and Amy was reassured greatly by the fact that they did, after all, at least change something in his life. (TV: Vincent and the Doctor)

Behind the scenes
A copy of Still Life: Vase with Twelve Sunflowers, one of the several paintings in a series of sunflower images, the painting was emulated by an unknown member of the art department. The image was repainted several times by van Gogh in the last couple of years of this life. It's unclear which version this is meant to be, because the unknown painter has combined several elements of different variants.

According to provenances given at the van Gogh Gallery, no version of the painting was ever resident in Paris in the 21st century.

External link

 * The Sunflowers series at the van Gogh Gallery