The Sunflowers are Mine: The Story of Van Gogh's Masterpiece

by Martin Bailey

This is the story of one of the world's most iconic images. Martin Bailey explains why Van Gogh painted a series of sunflower still lifes in Provence. He then explores the subsequent adventures of the seven pictures, and their influence on modern art. Through the Sunflowers, we gain fresh insights into Van Gogh's life and his path to fame.
Based on original research, the book is packed with discoveries throwing new light on the legendary artist.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, History, Art History

240 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 2013

Reviews

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very readable study of Van Gogh's life as seen through the creation of his 7 paintings of sunflowers; the second half gives us the histories of the paintings since Van Gogh's death. The reproductions are excellent, and there are a lot of fascinating old photos, too. As always, Van Gogh's words, as drawn from his letters, are touching and enlightening. The author uses these, and the correspondence of those who know Van Gogh to good effect.

[Valentina · Rating 5 out of 5]

This beautiful dive into some of Van Gogh's most iconic paintings is a definite must-read for those who love his work. Carefully written, with obvious painstaking research informing it, it is a book full of information about the artist's life and his mental status when he set out to paint his sunflowers.

The book delves into the influences of the time that led Van Gogh to paint these flowers, along with the mental fragility that led him to doubt his own talent. With the added benefit of the images included in the text, this is a complete study of the work and the man behind it.

[Meredith is a hot mess · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a gorgeous book! I'm a casual fan of Van Gogh, and loved the opportunity to delve deeper into his artwork. This was thoroughly researched, but also written in a way that was engaging and easy to understand. The author's tone was unpretentious, and more enthusiastic and informative, which I appreciated. I think both serious artists and casual fans will enjoy this book. Biographical information, Van Gogh's influences, as well as his specific artistic techniques were included. I learned quite a bit, and I'm happy to now have interesting conversation pieces to impress people with ;) I was impressed with the author's knowledge base as well as his writing style, and I'm interested in checking out Starry Night: Van Gogh at the Asylum by Martin Bailey. I've also enjoyed browsing Martin Bailey's blog dedicated to Van Gogh, Adventures with Van Gogh at The Art Newspaper.

*A copy was kindly provided by the publishers through Netgalley.

[David Lopez · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.7 ⭐️

One of the main reasons I picked up this book was because my wife and I are heading to London next week, and a visit to the National Gallery is high on our list. I’ve never seen Sunflowers in person, but like most people of my generation, they don’t feel unfamiliar. However, this book gave me a whole new perspective—not just on the paintings themselves, but on the emotions and relationships that shaped them.

The author perfectly unraveled Van Gogh’s deep connection to nature, his bond with his brother Theo, his complicated friendship with Gauguin, and the mental health struggles that colored his work. Knowing all this makes me appreciate Sunflowers in a way I never did before.

The book is split into two parts. The first dives into Van Gogh’s personal journey—his move to Arles, the creation of Sunflowers, and, eventually, his heartbreaking final days. The second part traces the story of the different Sunflowers paintings he made throughout his life and how an artist who barely sold a painting while he was alive became one of the most iconic (and ubiquitous) figures in art history.

[Girl · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received an e-copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley for review purposes. Thank you!

An in-depth look at the history of one of world’s most famous sets of paintings: Van Gogh’s Sunflowers. Bailey writes about the very origins of the paintings, about Van Gogh’s life around the time of the creation of Sunflowers, about the critical reaction to the pieces and of their fate before and after Van Gogh’s death, as well as about their eventual “places of residence”. The book is full of beautifully reproduced pictures and of interesting facts. The most important of the latter, perhaps, is that there were seven paintings in the series, with six surviving (one was destroyed in Japan during WWII); but then there is also the fact that the Sunflowers were once considered controversial and just plain weird.

Overall, while this might not necessarily be required reading for everyone, it is nonetheless a fascinating book.

[Bonnye Reed]

Netgalley
pub date Sept 1, 2013
Frances Lincoln
Repub Feb 5, 2019
Received Feb 5, 2019
Quarto Publishing Group - White Lion Publishing

[Mandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This meticulously researched and beautifully illustrated book is the story of Van Gogh’s iconic sunflower paintings, a fascinating account of the different versions and their adventures in time and place. All the paintings are collected at the end, making comparisons easy and rewarding, with their provenance and list of owners. A timeline and full bibliography are included, making this an accessible volume for the general reader as well as a useful one for the scholar and art historian. A great read.

[Nikki · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely stunning and enjoyable read. Hands down, Vincent is my favourite artist of all time.

[January Gray · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even non-art lovers are aware of Van Gogh's Sunflower paintings. This tells you the inspiration for them. Beautiful, lovely book. Quite a treasure!

[George1st · Rating 5 out of 5]

The attraction of this wonderful book is not only due to the sumptuous photographs of Van Gogh's mesmerising iconic works but also the informative and lucid prose provided by Martin Bailey who is a leading Van Gogh specialist and has curated several Van Gogh exhibitions. In addition he has authored a number of bestselling books on the artist. In The Sunflowers Are Mine, Martin narrates the story of the series of sunflower still lifes that he painted while staying in Paris and Provence. He painted a total of twelve of these canvases, although the most commonly referred to are the seven he painted while in Arles in 1888 - 1889. The other five he had painted previously while in Paris in 1887. The book not only tells the story surrounding their painting but also looks at their subsequent history which is fascinating in itself and includes many discoveries.

This is not only a book for the art connoisseur but also for the general reader like myself and Martin expertly narrates the story of Van Gogh's troubled life and places him against the perspective of the development of art at that time setting Van Gogh at the forefront of POST-Impressionism. Also the personal and artistic relationship between Van Gogh and Paul Gauguin is examined and analysed. I must admit that I spent several hours spellbound by his art and its meaning and would recommend this book to those who have a love of beauty and imagination.

[Donna Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been an Van Gogh fan ever since I stumbled upon Lust for Life by Irving StoneLust for Life. I have read other books about Van Gogh and his work, and I would place The Sunflowers are Mine: The Story of Van Gogh's Masterpiece as one of the best I've read. The biography section was concise, but telling. The relationships between Van Gogh and other painters of his period and the way they exchanged paintings was something I had not known much about.

I especially enjoyed the second part about the influence of his sunflower paintings. It was a thrill to see plates of paintings I have never seen before, and I liked how the author showed Van Gogh's influence on the flower paintings of other artists. The history and travel of each "Sunflower" painting was very interesting to me. I would definitely recommend The Sunflowers are Mine to anyone who is a fan of Van Gogh or who may want to know more about his famous Sunflowers.

[Chahna · Rating 5 out of 5]

The sunflower is mine, in a way.

If you know me you know about my love for sunflowers and you might have guessed that Van Gogh's Sunflowers are my favorite paintings.

This book traces the journey of all 7 of his Sunflower paintings from their inception, to what happened to them after his death. It explores how these paintings traveled across the world, and where they ended up. It has been a journey.

This book was just a warm yellow hug. The images in the book are strikingly beautiful. I learned so many things about Van Gogh and his friendship with Gauguin that I never knew before. I learned so much. The entire book was beautiful.

[Kendall Morgan Hall · Rating 4 out of 5]

“I’m painting with the gusto of a Marseilles eating bouillabaisse, which won’t surprise you when it’s a question of painting large Sunflowers.” - Vincent Van Gogh in a letter to his brother Theo

The Sunflowers Are Mine is a heavy-researched non-fiction book about one of art history’s most iconic paintings, Vincent Van Gogh’s Sunflowers. It is also a very informative biography of the artist around that time. I did not know that much about Vincent Van Gogh before reading this book. I’ve always been curious about what motivated Van Gogh to cut off his ear. This author says that it was partially motivated by Van Gogh’s fear that he would lose his bother Theo’s emotional and financial support (he had recently received a letter from Theo announcing his engagement) and that combined with mental illness caused him to act out in that self-destructive way.

“Nineteenth-century artists tended to choose elegant vases for floral still lives, but it is typical of Van Gogh that he opted for a more humble vessel.”

The title of this book comes from a letter that Van Gogh wrote in which he said that other artist’s had made various flowers their signature (Jeannin painted peonies and Quost painted hollyhocks), but that Van Gogh was going to make sunflowers his signature flower. Though most people are familiar with his painting depicting fifteen sunflowers in a simple pot, Van Gogh painted many lesser-known pictures of sunflowers.

“A botanist might feel that Van Gogh has not depicted the sunflowers accurately enough, but that was hardly his intention. He robustly set out to capture the essence of the flower, with a degree of exaggeration and stylization.”

The level of detail in this book is extraordinary. Every aspect of the paintings is described to a T. I wish I had gone into this book with a better understanding of art technique. There were a few words I had to look up, such as impasto.

“Always continue walking a lot and loving nature, for that’s the real way to learn to understand art better and better. Painters understand nature and love it, and teach us to see.” - Vincent Van Gogh in a letter to his brother Theo

I learned a lot from this book. For example, it was Theo Van Gogh who encouraged Vincent to paint flowers because he thought they might be marketable. They weren’t as highly regarded as landscapes or portraits, but people would often buy paintings of flowers to display in their homes.

I would recommend this book if you are interested in Vincent Van Gogh enough to wade through a very detailed account of one aspect of his painting (specifically his work that involved sunflowers). If you are looking for a more general biography of Vincent Van Gogh, there are better books to chose from. I have heard good things about Julius Meier-Graefe’s Vincent Van Gogh: A Biography and Victoria Charles’ Vincent Van Gogh. Still, I found this a very interesting read. I intend to pick up one of the two biographies I just mentioned to gain a better understanding of his life overall.

Thank you to Net Galley and White Lion Publishing for the digital copy of this book.

Grade: B

[Dvora Treisman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Why the description refers to "the most iconic image" when there were actually seven? I suppose most people think of Van Gogh's sunflower paintings as one painting. Van Gogh painted four images of sunflowers when he was in Arles, ostensibly to decorate the house and Gauguin's room when his friend was coming to stay. These are Three Sunflowers, Six Sunflowers, Fourteen Sunflowers, and Fifteen Sunflowers. Later he painted a copy of Fourteen Sunflowers which he signed, a copy of Fifteen Sunflowers which he signed, and another copy of Fifteen Sunflowers which he did not sign. None of the copies are identical to the originals so you can clearly tell them apart.

This book explains how he painted these masterpieces and why they are masterpieces. If you are not well versed in art, it helps you to understand how to look at and appreciate these paintings and provides many excellent color illustrations as well as some old photos. It also explains his life during this time, what happened to all these paintings after his death, and his legacy to the art world (other painters) and to the world in general (collectors and people like us who go to museums to see these paintings and buy the reproductions to have in our homes).

It's a wonderful book, clearly well researched, interesting, intelligently written, and easy to read. I do, however, have one criticism. Bailey talks about van Gogh's death as a suicide, which has been the accepted version. But new information came out in the brilliant book Van Gogh: The Life by Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith that convincingly explains why suicide is unlikely and that what is far more likely is that he was shot by a young person who was summering in the village. The fact that the gun was never found, would be one fact in favor of this theory, but there are other factors as well (trajectory of the bullet and more). When I read that, I was convinced. Evidently Bailey was not. He does refer briefly to the theory that Vincent was shot by someone, only mentioning that there is a new biography that presents this theory without even mentioning the title or name of the authors.

I've always liked those sunflower paintings. Now I like them even more. Poor Vincent. He couldn't imagine how beloved his paintings would become.

[Eileen Carr · Rating 5 out of 5]

An astonishingly well-researched book, and one that was utterly readable. Martin Bailey is often referred to in The Art Newspaper as an eminent expert on Van Gogh, and this book makes it clear why that is so.
I wondered how an entire book might be devoted to just Van Gogh's sunflowers. There are just seven major sunflower works, although there are also a handful of smaller paintings featuring a few cut sunflowers. But these provide the framework for a rich account of the artist's personality, his love of these sunny flowers, and their role in Van Gogh's rocky relationship with Gauguin.
The book is not only an easy and absorbing read, it is generously illustrated and organized, providing chronologies, details, and resources that make the whole a completely wonderful model of an art book. Bravo!

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Van Gogh and am drawn to his story and the almost happenstance of his rise to fame after his death. The idea of chronicling only his sunflower paintings is a cool idea too. I knew of lot of the history of his life already, but the story of his sunflower paintings was fascinating and added to my knowledge of his history. I loved the providence lists for each of his 7 vase sunflower painting.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love sunflowers and hoped to like "The Sunflowers Are Mine." While the book is educational and includes details of Van Gogh's life that I did not know before, it's a bit dry. I think I'll stick with looking at his paintings, but I would recommend this book to art lovers or anyone' who's interested in digging deeper into Van Gogh's life and work.

[Jeanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

A favorite book with many insights, this book was absorbing, revealed things I did not know, and, importantly, made me better able to imagine how Van Gogh may have actually felt in creating some of his pictures and how he was motivated. I chose this book after seeing the author in a documentary film.

[Helen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although I have seen Van Gogh’s sunflower paintings (books and at the Van Gogh Museum), I did not realize the passion he had for sunflowers and the color, yellow. This should have been been evident, but I missed it. Also learned about his relationship to Gauguin. There is an extensive listing of his paintings, their history and subsequent locations and value.

[Anna]

I loved this book! The way Bailey talks about Van Gogh's use of colour was so rich I could almost feel the rays of the sun and the cobalt sky of Provence.

[Rene · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lovely exploration of Van Gogh’s career with focus on the Sunflower paintings. Nicely illustrated including some rare photos.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Sunflowers Are Mine: The Story of Van Gogh's Masterpiece by Martin Bailey, a re-edition of the 2013 book of the same name, takes Vincent van Gogh’s iconic flower and examines, the hows, whos, and wheres of those famous paintings.

The book is comprised of essentially two halves. The first examines how Van Gogh came to choose the sunflower, his influences, Van Gogh’s situation when he painted each of the seven canvases. The second half follows the story of each painting once they left the easel, both their own adventures through galleries and wars, and as a wider look at their influence on modern art.

As I would expect from someone who has written several books on Van Gogh, Bailey’s investigation of the sunflower still-lifes is thorough, enlightening, and clearly painstakingly researched. I did find the tail-end of the second half a little dry, the story behind a painting petered out to a perfunctory description but I can’t hold that against the author; only so much can be written about a painting that has sat peacefully in a gallery or on someone’s wall for years. Otherwise the text is very readable, whether you have a casual interest in Van Gogh or are an art history student. I have read quite a bit about Van Gogh already and even I found myself learning something new. For example, I was not aware of the painting Five Sunflowers existed, let alone had been destroyed in Japan in 1945 during an air raid. Fortunately it was photographed in colour in 1921, and is featured in this book, in all the jewel-like intensity emblematic of Van Gogh, making it the first time it has been reproduced outside of Japan.

The reproduced pictures are almost worth buying the book alone. Vincent’s paintings are printed in marvellous, glossy and vivid detail. Even though they are digital reproductions you really get to share the sense of all those 1880s gallery goers shocked out of a pastel stupor. With pictures to reference to a reader can clearly see where Van Gogh influenced others, or where he found inspiration, as well as a visual context to contemporary art movement. There are also brilliant, fascinating photographs where possible. There was one in particular that stood out; a photograph of the artist’s nephew, Vincent Willem ‘the Engineer’ van Gogh, from 1973 at the Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam. An elderly man in a black and white photograph but it immediately reminded me Toulouse-Lautrec’s 1887 Portrait of Vincent van Gogh. It completely struck me, seeing an actual person - not a painting - that was only one generational step away from such a key figure in modern art.

Martin Bailey has written a wonderful exploration of Vincent van Gogh and some of the most famous sunflowers in history. An informative read and utterly beautiful, I think it would be suitable either as an introduction to Vincent’s life or as part of a deeper study, and highly recommend The Sunflowers Are Mine.



I received my copy through NetGalley in exchange for a review, all opinions my own etc etc

Like my reviews? You can read all of them, and more, over at my blog!
Or follow me on Goodreads!

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Can you believe possible such luck? The author of The Sunflowers

are Mine, Martin Bailey tells this wonderful anecdot: he was in Paris, spending the last of the year with a couple of Parisian friends and sharing with them his interest for Van Gogh. The couple, so, encouraged, told him a singular, absolutely stunning adventure.
What a stroke of luck!
As many people do, they bought a second-hand book in a bouquiniste stall located close to the Seine.
As it happens often, people bring home used book and they end in the pile of the "I want to read" books. A pile never-ending, let me add.
One day, after a lot of time from that distant moment in which the couple bought the book, the two noticed that inside there was a letter, from Vincent Van Gogh, to Paul Gaugin!
The letter later was recognized as original and it is now part of the Musee Reattu of Arles enriching a world, the epistolary one of Van Gogh, that it is simply immense; after his death people discovered, being a voracious letter-writer something like 820 letters.
This one follows the traumatic decision of Van Gogh of cutting his own ear, a self-injury punishment he inflicted to himself for who knows which reason and the quick departure from Arles of the same Gaugin after the terrible fact.

Van Gogh started to feel interest for sunflowers starting in 1888, when he left Provence for Arles; he is the artist more associated at this friendly, warm summer-flowers.

He was quick when he painted. He completed a painting of Sunflowers in just a week. He fell fascinated by sunflowers once in Paris in 1886.
That years were the most illuminating, most precious, more perfect ones for this artist.

Van Gogh didn't choose of portraying a sophisticated life; he went in particular for common people, countrysides, the work of peasants; he was interested to capture the colors of life seen and read examining the daily life.

Van Gogh composed various sunflowers paintings and in this book the author will drive us, thanks to a historical and artistic meticulous reconstruction, into the same history of these paintings and their destiny once bought.


Beautiful. If you love art, this book is for you!

Highly recommended.

Anna Maria Polidori

[Granny · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The Sunflowers are mine" by Martin Bailey explores the relationship between van Gogh and his famous sunflower paintings.

The book sets the scene beginning with van Gogh's waning days in Paris. He had reached such a level of dissatisfaction with his life, and the book follows him as he moves to Arles. But one positive note from his time in Paris was the stimulation of being around other artists, and van Gogh tried to recreate that comradery in his new home. There he literally bloomed and most of his better known works were created there. He reached out to Gaugin to come and join him. The cost of living was lower, it's southerly location promised more opportunities to get out and work in nature, and the gathering of artists that van Gogh envisioned would lend the spark to fan the fires of creativity.

The bulk of the book covers this period and while there are many details, the writing is fluid and fascinating. But in the later chapters, the book bogs down into the minutia of who owned which painting, and where it was exhibited covering over a century of ownership. Such details may be of interest to a van Gogh scholar, but they are tedious from the lay readers point of view.

The illustrations in this book are lavish and printing on luscious paper. The binding allows the reader to open the book widely to see the illustrations completely without breaking the binding.

The first 3/4's of the book are worth the price of admission here. Following van Gogh's days through the letters and other documentation makes for a delightful sense of walking in his footsteps. I have not seen a better book on this topic, with the exception of Martin Bailey's other book on van Gogh ["Starry Night: Van Gogh at the Asylum", see my review].

All in all, a worthwhile and interesting read.

[Arcelia Ramos · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book relates part of the life of Vincent van Gogh along with the development of one of his most known creations, The Sunflowers. The text is divided into two major parts, the first focuses on the artist’s lifetime highlighting important times of Van Gogh’s life where he seemed to have acquired inspiration or drive to push on his idea of these paintings. These highlights are accompanied by personal anecdotes and paintings which make the telling interesting and full of enjoyment. The second part of the text describes how Van Gogh’s sunflowers paintings have been passed on through history and how they have arrived at their current place. This is a very beautiful book not just because of the many illustrations, which are vivid and colorful, but also because of its rich detail. It is only 240 pages, but they are well employed. At the end of the book there is a short chronology of each of the seven sunflower paintings and a picture of each of them. Readers will also find a chronology of Van Gogh’s life but in relation to the sunflower paintings; there is an endnotes section, a bibliography, and an index. This is a great book for an art major, a Van Gogh’s fan, and a great addition to a college’s library. I received a free copy via NetGalley.

[Jodell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Starry starry night
Flaming flowers that brightly blaze
Swirling clouds in violet haze
Reflect in Vincent's eyes of china blue
Colors changing hue
Morning fields of amber grain
Weathered faces lined in pain
Are soothed beneath the artist's loving hand
Now I understand
What you tried to say to me
How you suffered for your sanity
How you tried to set them free
They would not listen, they did not know how
Perhaps they'll listen now
For they could not love you
But still your love was true
And when no hope was left inside
On that starry starry night
You took your life as lovers often do
But I could have told you Vincent
This world was never meant for one as beautiful as you

[Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gorgeous art, great history, good technical info all about Vincent Van Gogh and his revolutionary painting style, his favorite color- yellow. His dreams and problems dominate his life along with a constant lack of money. Many artists will enjoy his story and have empathy fork feelings and moods. A good history of what happened to his paintings, - in auctions, WWI and WWII. As an artist I enjoyed reading about his techniques and the locations of his paintings. This is a wonderful art book for artist and non-artist.

[RedRobinXXX · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am reviewing this book the Sunflowers are Mine for Martin Bailey, Quarto Publishing and NetGalley who gave me a copy of their book for an honest review.
A journey through life using his sunflower paintings – loved the artwork and drawings. You can tell the author has researched the topic intensely and knows what he is on about.

[Fran Pickering · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating account of Van Gogh's sunflower pictures and their eventual fate. Beautifully produced with plenty of full-colour illustrations.

See my blog post Van Gogh and Japan

[Polly Krize · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

A lifelong lover of Vincent's paintings, this journey of his life, seen through the Sunflower painting series, is enjoyable and accurate. Gorgeous reproductions, and drawings too. Lovely book.