Butterflies and Poppies by Vincent van Gogh

Butterflies and Poppies, the 1890 work by Vincent van Gogh, demonstrated that the lessons Vincent drew from his study of Japanese prints remained with him. The vivid red poppies and the pale yellow butterflies float on the surface of twisting dark stems and nodding buds, all against a yellow-gold background. Although composed of natural motifs, van Gogh's layering of pattern in Butterflies and Poppies suggests a decorative quality like that of a textile or a screen.

Butterflies and Poppies (oil on canvas, 13-1/2x10 inches), by Vincent van Gogh, is housed in the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam.

Van Gogh continued painting portraits as the year went on. Next, we'll see a particularly anguished example of this.

To learn more about art, famous artists, and art history, check out:

• How Art Works
  
• Impressionism
  
• Michelangelo
  
• Claude Monet