Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890) painted hundreds of paintings in the year before his death, many while he resided at the Saint Paul-de-Mausole psychiatric institution in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, France. He often referred to painting as “the lightning conductor for my illness,” as he thought the act helped keep him ‘sane.’ Irises were the subject of several paintings in this period, as he often worked in the hospital garden, inspired by the plant life around him. His time in the institution let him work without distraction and provided the space to really focus on his art. He spent time studying the movements, shapes, and colors of the institution’s natural landscape, which resulted in one of his more famous paintings from this period, Irises (1889) where each iris is completely unique, imbued with a lightness, a scene without tragedy.

Learn more about the work that inspired this pin HERE.