Flower Pot with Chives — Vincent van Gogh, 1887

Most of Van Gogh's Paris experiments were loud; this 1887 pot of chives is the quiet one — a kitchen herb taken seriously, painted with care for its particular green and the plain terracotta of the pot. A still life that belongs to the small Paris studies in which he was teaching himself colour before the open-sky light of Provence arrived. Compact, unpretentious, and easy to carry in a letter. From the Vincent van Gogh collection.