# Irises **Vincent van Gogh** (Dutch, 1853–1890) 1890 Oil on canvas 29 x 36 1/4 in. (73.7 x 92.1 cm) Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 58.187. [The museum's record](https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/436528). ## About this work A great bouquet of irises bursts from a vase, the flowers twisting in every direction against a pale background. Van Gogh painted the still life in May 1890, in his last days at the asylum in Saint-Rémy, as one of a pair of iris paintings exploring contrasts of colour. The background here was originally pink, intended to set off the violet flowers, but the red pigment he used has faded over time, so that what we see today is cooler and paler than he intended. The thick, sculpted brushwork gives each petal and leaf its own energy. _Written by Ochre Editions._ Vincent van Gogh painted this in 1890, aged 37. It is now at The Met in New York. ### How it was made - **Oil paint.** Pigment ground in a drying oil, usually linseed. It dries slowly, so painters could blend on the canvas, build up thin translucent glazes, and rework a picture over weeks. Canvas replaced wooden panels in the 1500s because it is lighter and can be rolled. ### [Vincent van Gogh](https://www.ochreeditions.com/artists/vincent-van-gogh) Dutch, 1853–1890; born in Zundert; died in Auvers-sur-Oise Van Gogh worked as an art dealer, teacher and lay preacher before he turned to art in 1880, at twenty-seven. His early pictures of Dutch peasants are dark and heavy; in Paris from 1886 he met the Impressionists and Neo-Impressionists, and his palette brightened. In Arles in 1888–89 he painted with intense colour and thick, directional strokes, and he worked on at the asylum in Saint-Rémy and finally at Auvers-sur-Oise. The Poet’s Garden belongs to a group made to decorate Gauguin’s room in the Yellow House. _Written by Ochre Editions._ ## Facts - Type: Paintings - The artist was 37 - Real size: about 29 × 36 in (74 × 92 cm). The 24 × 36 in print is close to life size. - Century: 19th century - Movement: [Post-Impressionism](https://www.ochreeditions.com/movements/post-impressionism) - Subjects: Flowers, Still Life - Colour: green - Rights: public domain (CC0 1.0); free to use for any purpose. ## Get it - Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/1093.jpg?dl=1 - Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/1093/1920.jpg - Giclée reproduction on Hahnemühle Photo Rag: 8 × 10 in $28; 11 × 14 in $38; 12 × 16 in $42; 16 × 20 in $56; 18 × 24 in $68; 20 × 30 in $86; 24 × 36 in $108 - Framed reproduction: 8 × 10 in $78; 11 × 14 in $98; 12 × 16 in $108; 16 × 20 in $138; 18 × 24 in $164; 20 × 30 in $208; 24 × 36 in $258 - Canvas reproduction: 8 × 10 in $58; 11 × 14 in $72; 12 × 16 in $79; 16 × 20 in $98; 18 × 24 in $118; 20 × 30 in $148 - Print-ready file: 8 × 10 in $2; 11 × 14 in $2; 12 × 16 in $3; 16 × 20 in $3; 18 × 24 in $3; 20 × 30 in $5; 24 × 36 in $5 Sizes stop where the museum's file would print below 150 pixels per inch. Everything sold is a reproduction, made to order. [Order a print](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/irises-met-436528).