Vase with Red Poppies

Van Gogh's vase paintings with red poppies were produced during his Paris period (1886–1888) as part of his sustained exploration of flower subjects as vehicles for pure colour. Red poppies — common in Ile-de-France fields — gave him the opportunity to work with the most saturated end of the warm spectrum against white and neutral grounds. The flower series overall represents his transition from the dark Nuenen palette to the high-keyed Impressionist colours he absorbed in Paris, and he noted that painting flowers was a way to 'make myself more comfortable with colours other than grey.' The lightness and freedom of these works directly prefigure the Arles sunflower series.

The poppies are rendered in cadmium red and vermilion with dark centres in near-black. Stems and leaves are built in varied greens from olive to emerald. The vase — typically a simple blue-white faïence — is painted with efficient, curved strokes that suggest its cylindrical form without laboured modelling.