Location📍 National Gallery of Art → West Building Main Floor, Gallery M83

Roses

Vincent van Gogh painted Roses in 1890, shortly before his release from the asylum at Saint–Rémy. This horizontal still life depicts a profusion of white roses with petals tinged in shades of denim blue, aquamarine, sage green, mauve pink, teal, and butter yellow, bursting from the neck of a tan jug. Emerald-green leaves fill the spaces between the blossoms, and a few flowers lie on the sea glass-green surface at the foot of the vessel. The background consists of a mint-green wall with wavy, diagonal streaks of cream white. Van Gogh applied the paint thickly in undulating diagonal strokes that animate the canvas and play off the furled forms of the flowers and leaves. Many of the leaves, flowers, and the vase are outlined in navy blue or black. Originally, the roses were pink, which would have created a contrast of complementary colors with the green. Van Gogh saw blossoming plants as celebrations of birth and renewal, and for him, painting was essential to his healing process during recovery.