Reading English Books Together

HISTORY OF ART: Vincent Van Gogh.  Sunflowers. Interest in Van Gogh's 'Sunflowers' was whipped up when in 1987 the Japanese fire-insurance company Yasuda paid $39.9 million for the painting below. Those curious as to what was remarkable about the painting that fetched such a hefty price found out that it was one of a series of sunflower paintings done by the Dutch painter Vincent Van Gogh in the period from August to September 1888.   Van Gogh painted the Sunflowers series in a mood of sunny optimism when he was waiting for the arrival of the avant-garde painter, Paul Gaugin. They had rented a studio in Arles, in southern France and were planning to work together. The sunflowers were meant to be a sign of friendship and welcome. Van Gogh hoped that Gaugin would lead a community of artists that would be established in Arles - The Studio of the South. Van Gogh was contemptuous of the art trade and thought that artists could best fulfil their potential if they did