The National Gallery in London just made one of Van Gogh’s dreams a reality 134 years after his death. They put this triptych together with Van Gogh’s Sunflowers on each side of a painting of “La Berceuse” (The Lullaby) and have it on display from now until December. The Lullaby painting consists of a woman holding a rope that would be used to rock a cradle with a baby.
Van Gogh wrote in his letters that he’d like one sunflower painting with a yellow background and one with a blue background on each side of “The Lullaby” because he considered it the ultimate way his work could give comfort. This is the first time these paintings have been displayed in the way he truly wanted.
When I first learned about this wish of his through reading these letters, it influenced my approach to how I was writing my piece Sunflower Studies. I knew I wanted to put melodies that would sound lullaby-like in nature throughout the piece. I’m happy to see he got his wish.
