Sunflowers

Sunflowers (1888) by Vincent van Gogh. Its palette is led by light gold (#b4922c, 28%) and rich orange ochre (#916622, 24%), with accents of yellow. Overall the canvas is light, vivid and warm.

Color note

Van Gogh built his color on complementary contrasts, blue against orange and red against green, learned from Delacroix and Japanese prints. Some of his reds were fugitive and have faded, so parts of his paintings are cooler today than he made them.

Palette

#b4922c MG 038 light gold 27.6% of canvas
#916622 MG 178 rich orange ochre 24.4% of canvas
#e1d07f MG 036 pale gold 23.0% of canvas
#d3bd71 MG 036 pale gold 18.5% of canvas
#7e863a MG 045 yellow 6.5% of canvas

Color families

Yellow 81%, Brown 17%, Green 1%, White 0%, Orange 0%

Measurements

Lightness: 0.70
Contrast: 0.36
Vividness: 0.105
Warmth: +1.00
Complexity: 139 cells
Hue range: 0.32
Focus: 0.00

Composition

50% of the visual weight is in the right half, 51% in the upper half. Symmetry 0.66 (how closely its shapes and edges mirror each other). 38% of the canvas is calm space. Half of the detail sits in 29% of the canvas. Measured from the image, not a rule the painter followed.

Details

Date: 1888
Medium: Oil on canvas
Size: 92.1 × 73.0 cm
Genre: still life
Collection: National Gallery, London

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