Researchers at the Getty Center in Los Angeles discovered that Vincent van Gogh’s Irises were not always as blue as they appear today. Scientific analysis revealed that Van Gogh originally applied a vibrant violet pigment to the painting, the red tone of which has since faded due to light exposure. The Getty Center also announced an upcoming exhibition full of fresh insights into the famous painting, opening on October 1.
Van Gogh Created His Own Violet Pigment for Irises
Irises by Vincent van Gogh is among the Getty Center’s most beloved artworks. When the Getty Center closed in 2020 due to COVID-19, curators jumped at the rare chance to take down the popular painting for scientific analysis. Since the Getty acquired Irises in 1990, curators have suspected that Van Gogh’s vibrant flowers were not originally as blue as they appear today. Their hypothesis originated with a letter penned by Van Gogh to his brother, Theo, in which he describes starting a painting featuring “violet irises.”
To investigate, Getty Center researchers employed non-invasive analytical techniques, including x-ray fluorescence spectroscopy. This revealed the original presence of a red pigment called geranium lake, which is known to be highly sensitive to light. Van Gogh created a custom violet hue for the flower petals by mixing blue and red pigments, including geranium lake. Over time, the visible red tone in Irises all but disappeared due to decades of light exposure, leaving the flowers much bluer than the artist intended.
Getty Center Exhibition Opens in October
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Sign up to our Free Weekly NewsletterTo showcase their findings, the Getty Center planned an exhibition. Ultra-Violet: New Light on Van Gogh’s Irises explores the famous painting through the lens of modern conservation science. It examines how the science of light impacted the longevity of the painting, the center’s research and conservation methods, and even Van Gogh’s own technical approach. The Getty Center will borrow paintings from the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam to contextualize Irises within Van Gogh’s oeuvre. The Van Gogh Museum will also loan a replica of a box of yarn balls, which Van Gogh used to explore the relationships between different colors.
“This exhibition beautifully illustrates how conservators and scientists at Getty collaborate to better understand and care for works of art,” said Catherine Patterson, a scientist at the Getty Conservation Institute. “The reconstruction that came from this research allows us to see Irises in a new light and gain a better appreciation of the artist’s intention.” Ultra-Violet: New Light on Van Gogh’s Irises will be on view at the Getty Center in Los Angeles from October 1, 2024 to January 19, 2025.
The History of Van Gogh’s Irises
In May 1889, the quintessential Post-Impressionist painter Vincent van Gogh checked himself into a psychiatric hospital in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, France. There, in the final months before his death at age 37, he created over a hundred paintings. Irises was among the first. Sitting in the asylum’s walled garden, Van Gogh painted Irises directly from nature. Each bloom in the composition is unique, demonstrating Van Gogh’s careful attention to detail. There are no known preparatory drawings for the painting, indicating that Van Gogh likely considered it a study. Its cropped composition and flattened swaths of bright color suggest the influence of Japanese woodblock prints.
Theo van Gogh, an art dealer, was particularly struck by Irises: “[It] strikes the eye from afar. It is a beautiful study full of air and life,” wrote Theo in a letter to his brother. Theo submitted the painting to the Salon des Indépendants in Paris later that year. The French art critic Octave Mirbeau, one of Van Gogh’s earliest supporters, was the first owner of Irises. Of the artist, Mirbeau wrote, “How well he has understood the exquisite nature of flowers!” Van Gogh went on to create several paintings featuring irises during his hospital stay.
