Still Life: Vase with Oleanders

Van Gogh's oleander still life belongs to the Arles flower series of summer and autumn 1888, when he kept living oleanders in the Yellow House and painted them as emblems of the Provençal summer. He wrote to Theo that oleanders were 'joyous' and associated them with the blazing heat and colour of the south. Unlike the sunflowers, which he conceived as a commissioned decorative programme for Gauguin's bedroom, the oleander still lifes were more intimate — spontaneous responses to the cut flowers in his studio. The works collectively represent his attempt to find a subject that could carry the chromatic intensity of Japanese botanical prints translated into oil.

Dense clusters of pink-white oleander flowers are built from overlapping strokes of rose, white, and pale yellow. The leaves in dark green-black provide strong tonal contrast. The ceramic vase is rendered with simple, confident strokes. The overall effect is one of dense, airless accumulation of form and colour.