Vincent van Gogh: Irises

Irises is one of the paintings Vincent van Gogh executed in 1889, the last year before his suicide. Irises was executed as oil on canvas, with the dimensions of 71 cm × 93 cm. Today it is exhibited in J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, California.
Van Gogh painted Irises when he was in the asylum of the Monastery of St. Paul de Mausole in Saint-Remy-de-Provence, soon before his first attack he had there and has some relevance in this regard as he spoke about the painting as “the lightning conductor for my illness”. Van Gogh was positive to escape from becoming insane if he kept one with painting.
Irises has some influences of Japanese ukiyo-e woodblock printings, a quite common influence during those times. Vincent van Gogh considered Irises rather to be a a study, hence even a sketch is missing. However, his brother Theo quickly realized the importance of this painting and did not hesitate to submitt it to the annual exhibition of the Société des Artistes Indépendants where it was exhibited in 1889, together with Vincent’s painting Starry Night Over the Rhone.