Irises by Van Gogh: The Asylum Garden and the White Iris

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Painted in the asylum garden

In May 1889, Van Gogh entered the asylum of Saint-Paul-de-Mausole at Saint-Rémy-de-Provence of his own free will. In his first days there, he painted the irises growing in the garden. He called painting a lightning conductor for his illness.

The canvas belongs to the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles. Theo sent it to the Salon des Indépendants in Paris in September 1889, where it was shown alongside Starry Night over the Rhône.

A close, cropped view of the flowerbed

Blue and violet iris blooms outlined in dark blue among green leaves — Flowers cut by the edge, like a Japanese print.

There is no sky and no horizon. We look down into a bed of irises, the flowers cut off by the edges of the canvas, as in a Japanese print. Each bloom is outlined in dark blue and filled with violet and blue strokes.

The long, pointed leaves are painted in blue-greens that sway and cross one another, so the whole bed seems to move.

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One white iris among the blue

Single white iris among blue flowers and orange marigolds — One white iris among the blue.

At the left, a single white iris stands among the blue flowers. It is the brightest spot in the painting and catches the eye at once.

Many people read it as a symbol of the artist, alone and different among the others. That interpretation is popular but not documented. What is clear is that it breaks the rhythm of blue and gives the composition a focal point.

Red-brown earth below

Red, orange and brown soil painted in quick parallel strokes — Warm earth below cool leaves.

At the bottom, the soil is painted in streaks of red, orange and brown, laid in quick parallel strokes. Its warm colour sets off the cool blues and greens above it.

Behind the irises, a band of orange marigolds and green leaves fills the top of the canvas, another contrast of warm against cool.

Once the most expensive painting

In 1987 Irises sold at auction in New York for 53.9 million dollars, at the time a world record for a painting. The Getty acquired it in 1990.

The violets in the flowers have faded somewhat over time because of a red pigment that has lost its strength, so the irises were originally more purple than they appear today.

Questions about Irises

Where was Irises painted?

In the garden of the asylum at Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, in May 1889.

Where is the original?

The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles.

Why is one iris white?

Van Gogh did not explain it. It creates a focal point and contrast; reading it as a self-portrait is an interpretation.

How large is it?

About 74.3 × 94.3 centimetres, oil on canvas.

Sources and image credit

Faithful public-domain reproduction of Irises (1889), via Wikimedia Commons (Getty Open Content). Detail images are crops of the same historical painting; no reconstruction or upscaling.