Sunflowers

What you see

On a table, a rounded two-tone vase holds a huge bouquet of more than a dozen sunflowers. Some face us with open heads; others droop or have already lost their petals, showing centers packed with seeds. The flowers fan out until they nearly fill the canvas, and the eye climbs from the vase to the topmost bloom.

Almost everything is yellow: the pale background, the deeper table, the golden petals and the orange and brown centers. Only the green stems and a blue line where table meets wall break the harmony. The paint is thick, especially in the seed heads. Notice the signature “Vincent,” written in blue on the vase, and the faded bloom dangling on the left.