Twelve Sunflowers in a Vase — Vincent van Gogh, Arles 1888

In 1888 Van Gogh painted several sunflower canvases to decorate the Yellow House for Gauguin's arrival. The ambition was to make a series that lived together — each version exploring what yellow could do against yellow. This version with twelve sunflowers in a yellow vase is at the Kunstmuseum Bern. The sunflowers are painted with the directness of someone who has thought carefully about a single colour. A postcard for someone who knows this painting, or for someone who will. From the Vincent van Gogh collection.