In the painting, Sunflowers, there is a vase on a slanted desk full of wilted sunflowers.

The sunflowers are the main characters. When deciphering what the painting is saying I feel that

it is representing Vincent. In this painting he has way more yellow which is often represented by

happiness. However, the flowers are dying. Which could represent him masking his emotions.

The slanted table could also show how he is slowly falling apart and the vase is him trying to

hold himself together. With the sunflowers, the centers are dark brown, with no fallen petals but

they are slowly dying as if the flowers have been on the desk for a few weeks. Some of the

flowers are different sizes and only a few have full rounds of petals. One of the sunflowers has a

blue center which is also what he wrote his signature in. The sunflowers show how Vincent feels.

Even in the masking of his emotions he still is trying to let part of himself out. This painting was

right after he cut his ear off but not with him feeling like he needed to be in the asylum. The blue

around the vase may also represent the water seeping out of the vase. Which also helps support

the sadness seeping out of him. This shows that maybe through this painting he is trying to cheer

himself up. By overusing the yellow for the petals, background, and table with only using brown

and little bits of blue to contrast. He also used green but that could be seen as adding realism to

the flower or adding envy. Vincent could have been envious about how others are normal and he

cannot be. Through the sunflowers, I feel as if he thinks his light is gone and he is trying to

capture it by everything “happy”. Though there are a few other copies of this painting, I feel as if

the one located in Amsterdam is the best fit for how Vincent felt. It was not his normal layer on

layer of brush strokes but rather a sense of realism in his mind. Many believed he was depressed,

bipolar or just crazy but either way he was locked into his mind. I believe he is broken-hearted

and losing himself. He had been recovering from severing his ear lobe which to any “normal”

person is crazy. Therefore, by painting this mask of happiness with a sense of envy he is trying to
find himself, believing he does not need the asylum yet. While Vincent might not have realized

all of this during the time I believe he knew that he was going insane. He wanted people to see

gratitude but I believe he also wanted the viewers to view it deeper. How would any one viewer

see gratitude out of a vase of wilting sunflowers? Making me believe him signing his name in the

same blue as the center of one of the sunflowers is the most significant element within the

painting.