"Almond Blossoms" by Vincent Van Gogh, 1890

[onlyknownothing]

Detail from the Van Gogh Museum on this piece:

"Large blossom branches like this against a blue sky were one of Van Gogh’s favourite subjects. Almond trees flower early in the spring making them a symbol of new life. Van Gogh borrowed the subject, the bold outlines and the positioning of the tree in the picture plane from Japanese printmaking.

The painting was a gift for his brother Theo and sister-in-law Jo, who had just had a baby son, Vincent Willem. In the letter announcing the new arrival, Theo wrote: ‘As we told you, we’ll name him after you, and I’m making the wish that he may be as determined and as courageous as you.’ Unsurprisingly, it was this work that remained closest to the hearts of the Van Gogh family. Vincent Willem went on to found the Van Gogh Museum."

More works are available in the Van Gogh Museum online gallery, as well as on Wikimedia's gallery. The Van Gogh museum page regarding this work includes the following musical piece inspired by the work by pianist Remko Kühne:

Watch on YouTube

Comments

Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith]

I'm pretty sure that I have seen this pattern printed on quilt fabric.

Re: Thoughts

[onlyknownothing]

Oh yeah, it's absolutely all over now. The Van Gogh Museum gift shop shows the sheer variety of things with this pattern, since the work and image are now in the public domain and thus there are no licensing costs. I've seen skirts with it too.

Re: Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith]

Fascinating.

It's sad how copyright, which was intended to encourage people to make stuff, has been twisted to impoverish the public domain. But things have started entering the public domain again, so now we hold a Public Domain Day Bingo in allbingo every January. \o/