Vincent van Gogh
Prisoners Exercising
From $100
Van Gogh built this picture on a clash of opposite colours, and a dull print turns the yellow mustard and the irises navy. Our Van Gogh vase of irises against a yellow background was graded beside the original so the yellow stays lemon-bright and the flowers keep their violet. The two fight, the way he wanted.
Canvas, framed or paper
Stretched canvas. Printed on cotton canvas and stretched taut over a frame. The edges are mirror-wrapped, so the picture continues around the sides and none of it is lost to the fold.
Framed canvas. The same canvas, set in a black, white, natural wood or dark wood frame 0.83 in deep. The frame gives the work a finished edge and a little more presence on the wall.
Framed print. Printed on fine art matte paper and framed in solid pine, behind shatterproof plexiglass, in black, white, natural wood or dark wood. It arrives ready to hang. Framed sizes are measured on the outside of the frame.
Fine art print. Printed on 310gsm fine art matte paper, for framing your own way. It travels rolled and protected. From 18x24 inch.
Sizes
16x20 inch, 24x30 inch. Framed sizes are measured on the outside of the frame, so the visible painting is a little smaller.
On your wall
Its upright shape suits a kitchen, an entry or a bedroom wall. The yellow and violet look wonderful with white, navy and warm wood, and a natural wood or white frame lets the yellow glow.
About the painting
Vase with Irises against a Yellow Background by Vincent van Gogh
Saint-Rémy, May 1890
For a year Van Gogh had lived and painted at the asylum of Saint-Rémy, in the south of France. In May 1890 he was well again and about to leave for the north. In his last week there he painted flowers: roses, and two big bunches of violet irises.
Yellow and violet
He wrote to his brother Theo that one bunch stood on a soft pink ground, and this one on a bright lemon yellow, with more yellow in the vase and the stand. Yellow and violet are opposites, and he wanted them to make each other stronger where they meet.
Post-Impressionism
While he painted, he was also packing his trunk, and he told Theo that packing was harder than painting. The canvases needed a month to dry, so he left them to be sent on after him. This one is in the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam; its pink sister is in New York.
Read the story
Van Gogh painted these irises in the last week of a hard year, while he was packing.
It's May 1890, in Saint-Rémy, in the south of France. Van Gogh is thirty-seven.
For a year he has lived here in an asylum, by his own choice, with a barred window over a wheat field.
This spring he was ill again for two months, too ill to paint at all.
But now, he writes to his brother Theo, the attack has passed, like a thunderstorm.
He's going north, to be near Theo, Theo's wife, and their new baby. There's a trunk to pack, and there are flowers in the garden.
So he paints two big bunches of violet irises. One stands against a soft pink.
This one stands against a bright lemon yellow, with yellow in the vase and on the table too.
Yellow and violet are opposites, he tells Theo, and side by side they make each other stronger.
He works calmly and fast, to finish before he goes, and admits that packing is harder than painting.
The paint is still wet when he leaves. The canvases need a month to dry, so someone will send them on after him.
Today the pink one hangs in New York, and this one in Amsterdam, at the Van Gogh Museum.
Look how bright he made it. It doesn't feel like a goodbye at all.
Vase with Irises against a Yellow Background. Vincent van Gogh, 1890.
How each piece is brought to life
Faithful to the original, and made to be felt on your wall.
Graded against the original
We compare every work with the original as we grade it, keeping the artist’s colours true while bringing back their depth and glow. Every mark stays the artist’s own.
Printed for you
Printed to order on cotton canvas or fine art paper, then framed if you chose a frame, in 1 to 3 business days.
On your wall
It arrives 5 to 12 business days later, tracked and free anywhere in the US. Framed pieces come ready to hang.
Questions
Is this the original painting?
No. The original hangs in a museum. What you receive is a fine art reproduction, remastered from the original and printed for you, with every mark where the artist left it.
Will the colour look flat?
This is where most reproductions disappoint, and it is where we spend the most time. Each work is graded side by side with the original: faithful to the artist’s colours, with the depth and warmth brought back, so it moves you on the wall the way it was meant to. Canvas reads a touch softer than a backlit screen, and every screen shows colour a little differently.
Will the edges be cropped?
Each size is a standard frame size, so we fit the painting by trimming a little from its edges. We never stretch or squash it, and we check every size by eye so no face, figure or signature is cut. On canvas the edges are mirror-wrapped, which keeps the whole picture on the front.
Which size is right for my wall?
Aim for about two-thirds the width of the furniture beneath it. Over a sofa or a sideboard, one of the two largest sizes will hold the wall. The size guide lists every size in inches and centimetres, with the kind of wall each one suits.
How long does it take?
Your piece is printed in 1–3 business days, then spends 5–12 business days in transit, tracked all the way. Delivery is free anywhere in the US. We are unable to deliver to PO boxes.
What if it arrives damaged?
Send us a photograph and we will remake it and send it again. There is nothing to return.
Can I return it?
Yes, within 30 days of delivery. Our returns policy has the details.
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Printed to order
Graded against the original, then printed for you on cotton canvas or fine art paper in 1–3 business days.
The whole painting
Every mark is the artist’s own, and canvas edges are mirror-wrapped so the whole picture stays on the front.
Free US shipping
On every order, tracked, 5–12 business days in transit.
30-day returns
Returns and exchanges within 30 days of delivery.
