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Oleanders

Our Inspiration:Oleanders
Vincent van Gogh (Dutch, 1853–1890)
Oil on canvas, 23 3/4 x 29 in., 1888
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John L. Loeb, 1962 62.24
For Van Gogh, oleanders were joyous, life-affirming flowers that bloomed “inexhaustibly” and were always “putting out strong new shoots.” In this painting of August 1888, the flowers fill a majolica jug that the artist used for other still lifes made in Arles. They are symbolically juxtaposed with Émile Zola’s La joie de vivre, a novel that Van Gogh had placed in contrast to an open Bible in a Nuenen still life of 1885.

Our Inspiration:Oleanders
Vincent van Gogh (Dutch, 1853–1890)
Oil on canvas, 23 3/4 x 29 in., 1888
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John L. Loeb, 1962 62.24
For Van Gogh, oleanders were joyous, life-affirming flowers that bloomed “inexhaustibly” and were always “putting out strong new shoots.” In this painting of August 1888, the flowers fill a majolica jug that the artist used for other still lifes made in Arles. They are symbolically juxtaposed with Émile Zola’s La joie de vivre, a novel that Van Gogh had placed in contrast to an open Bible in a Nuenen still life of 1885.