Sunflowers on an Armchair

Painted in 1901 in the Marquesas, this unusual composition places a vase of Van Gogh's iconic sunflowers on an armchair — a direct tribute to Gauguin's troubled friendship with Van Gogh. The two artists had shared the Yellow House in Arles for two months in 1888 before their catastrophic falling-out and Van Gogh's breakdown. Gauguin painted Van Gogh himself painting sunflowers. Placing the flowers on an empty armchair — another motif Gauguin associated with Van Gogh — is a deeply personal act of memorial for his old companion who had died in 1890. Held at the Kunsthaus Zürich.

The sunflowers are painted with loosely defined golden and ochre forms that recall Van Gogh's own sunflower palette without exactly reproducing it. The armchair provides a domestic, intimate framing. Gauguin's characteristically firm contours organise the composition. The warm yellows against the deeper background tones create the glowing, personal atmosphere of an act of remembrance.