“Stop and admire this lively still life, where Van Gogh’s signature expressive brushwork brings a simple bouquet of lilacs, daisies, and anemones to vivid, swirling life.”
A vibrant still life, this painting bursts with the energy of a spring bouquet, rendered in thick, swirling brushstrokes. The vase, unassuming and simple, holds an explosion of color: deep purple lilacs, cheerful white daisies, and rich red and pink anemones. Each flower is given its own distinct texture and form through the vigorous application of paint, creating a sense of movement and life within the arrangement. The background, a muted, almost abstract field of greens and blues, pushes the floral subject forward, amplifying its intensity. This work captures a fleeting moment of natural beauty, transformed by a distinctive expressive style that emphasizes emotion over meticulous detail.
- Artist
- Vincent van Gogh
- Date
- 1887
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Location
- Museum of Art and History Geneva
What to Notice
Five details hide in plain sight. Here’s where to look.

The thick, impasto brushwork, especially visible in the lilacs
The vibrant contrast between the red anemones and green stems
How the light seems to emanate from the flowers themselves
The simple, almost rustic vase holding the elaborate bouquet
1 more detail is waiting.
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Vincent van Gogh
1853–1890 · Kingdom of the NetherlandsVincent van Gogh, whose vibrant brushwork and bold colors transformed landscapes and portraits, created 2,100 artworks in just over a decade.
Further Works by van Gogh
Olive Trees
1853 · The Metropolitan Museum of Art
A Peasant Woman Digging in Front of Her Cottage
1880 · Art Institute of Chicago
Still Life with Clogs
1881 · Kröller-Müller Museum
Cart with Black Ox
1884 · Portland Art Museum
Cart with Red and White Ox
1884 · Kröller-Müller Museum
Still Life with Pots, Jar and Bottles
1884 · Kunstmuseum Den Haag
Head of a Peasant Woman with Green Shawl
1885 · Museum of Fine Arts of Lyon
The Potato Peeler (reverse: Self-Portrait with a Straw Hat)
1885 · The Metropolitan Museum of Art
More from Expressionism
More works to explore
Beyond van Gogh and Expressionism: works from the same years, and from the other movements Vase with Lilacs, Daisies and Anemones belongs to.
Same movement · Post-Impressionism
Albert (René) Grenier (1858–1925)
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec · 1887 · The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Same era · 1870s–1900s
A Sunday on La Grande Jatte — 1884
Okada Saburosuke · 1884 · Art Institute of Chicago
Same movement · Post-Impressionism
The Seine at Pont de Grenelle
Paul Gauguin · 1875 · Wallraf–Richartz Museum
Same era · 1870s–1900s
Madame Léon Clapisson
Léon-Victor Dupré · 1883 · Art Institute of Chicago
Same movement · Post-Impressionism
Carmelina
Henri Matisse · 1903 · Museum of Fine Arts Boston
Same era · 1870s–1900s
Paris Street; Rainy Day
Kawabata Gyokushō · 1877 · Art Institute of Chicago
Same movement · Post-Impressionism
The Old Guitarist
Pablo Picasso · 1903 · Art Institute of Chicago
Same era · 1870s–1900s
Still Life with Crayfish
Mikhail Larionov · 1900 · Museum Ludwig
Same movement · Post-Impressionism
Gustave Boyer (b. 1840) in a Straw Hat
Paul Cézanne · 1870 · The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Same era · 1870s–1900s
Equestrienne (At the Cirque Fernando)
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec · 1887 · Art Institute of Chicago
Same movement · Post-Impressionism
Lozenge Composition with Yellow, Black, Blue, Red, and Gray
Piet Mondrian · 1921 · Art Institute of Chicago
Same era · 1870s–1900s
Two Tahitian Women in a Landscape
Paul Gauguin · 1887 · Art Institute of Chicago
Same era · 1870s–1900s
Cows Drinking at a Pool
William Hart · 1886 · Museum of Fine Arts Boston
Same era · 1870s–1900s
Madame Cézanne (Hortense Fiquet, 1850–1922) in a Red Dress
Paul Cézanne · 1888 · The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Same era · 1870s–1900s
Rocks at Port-Goulphar, Belle-Île
Claude Monet · 1886 · Art Institute of Chicago
Same era · 1870s–1900s
Forêt de Compiègne
Berthe Morisot · 1885 · Art Institute of Chicago
Same era · 1870s–1900s
Studies of Pierre Renoir; His Mother, Aline Charigot; Nudes; and Landscape
Pierre-Auguste Renoir · 1885 · Art Institute of Chicago
Same era · 1870s–1900s
The Sick Child
Edvard Munch · 1885 · National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design




