Vase with carnations

This floral still life arose in the period between July and September 1886 when Vincent van Gogh was staying in Paris. He had moved into the apartment on the Rue Lepic belonging to his brother Theo. Theo worked for the art agency Goupil & Cie; he was in charge of the branch on the Boulevard Montmartre. Theo was permitted to exhibit works by modern artists such as the Impressionists and the Pointillists. He was good friends with a number of them; one of them was Adolphe Monticelli. He owned a floral still life by him which made a big impression on Vincent. The latter would certainly have studied it carefully when he turned to painting a number of floral still lifes as a study in the use of colour and tonality. In his later letters to Theo, Vincent repeatedly mentioned the floral still life by Monticelli.
The bouquet of Monticelli, which is now in the collection of the Rijksmuseum Vincent van Gogh in Amsterdam, is clearly related in style to the floral still life by Vincent van Gogh. The flowers seem to have been arranged nonchalantly in a vase and placed against a dark background. Similarities can also be identified in the way of working. Reticence in the use of colour, which was usual with the Salon painters, is completely absent here. For Van Gogh, it was all about intense colour, not some drab harmony.