Vase with Irises Against Yellow Background — Vincent van Gogh, 1890

In May 1890 Van Gogh ran his late palette at full strength: violet irises against a saturated yellow, no relief in between. He conceived the irises-against-yellow as a companion to a white irises-against-blue canvas — a complementary pair meant to be exhibited together. Painted at Saint-Rémy just before leaving for Auvers, it is one of his last great still lives. Now at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. The postcard carries that intensity in a hand-held format — for a desk, a frame, or a Van Gogh late-period collection. From the Vincent van Gogh collection.