Image: Rodin Museum, London
The Philadelphia Museum of Art is keeping 'Van Gogh’s Sunflowers: A Symphony in Blue and Yellow' on view through October 11, presenting two sunflower paintings by Vincent van Gogh side by side in the museum’s Colket Gallery 251. The display pairs a work completed in August 1888, on loan from the National Gallery, London, with a painting completed in January 1889 from the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s collection.
According to the museum, the exhibition is designed to reveal Van Gogh’s artistic practice at the time. The artist began painting sunflowers in August 1888, when he made works showing flowers spilling from earthenware pots set against yellow and blue backgrounds. The museum says the flowers fascinated Van Gogh and soon took on greater dimensions, a development the exhibition traces through the two versions now shown together.
The installation is free with museum admission and is listed as being in the Main Building. Jennifer Thompson, the museum’s Gisela and Dennis Alter Curator of European Painting, Curator of the John G. Johnson Collection, and Head of European Art, is named as curator of the presentation. The exhibition title appears on the museum website as 'Van Gogh’s Sunflowers' with the subtitle 'A Symphony in Blue and Yellow.'
The works on view come from two major collections: the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the National Gallery, London. The museum’s description emphasizes the paintings’ color and brushwork, saying the display considers how Van Gogh used those elements to create expressive effects. The site also notes that the paintings still inspire artists and art enthusiasts today.
The exhibition is one of several projects currently featured by the Philadelphia Museum of Art, which also lists 'Workshop of the World: Arts & Crafts in Philadelphia' through October 11, 'Americana: Photographs 1850-1950' as ongoing, and 'Rising Up: Rocky and the Making of Monuments' through August 2. The museum’s July 30 newsletter likewise highlights these exhibitions alongside family programs and the Rodin Garden Bar.
Support for 'Van Gogh’s Sunflowers: A Symphony in Blue and Yellow' is credited to the Gloria and Jack Drosdick Fund for Special Exhibitions, the Harriet and Ronald Lassin Fund for Special Exhibitions, and an anonymous donor. The museum lists the exhibition through October 11 in the Main Building’s Colket Gallery 251.
