The passage of time gave Van Gogh’s Lilies their current blue color: study

Los Angeles. The colors of the masterpiece Liliesby Vincent van Gogh, which for generations have amazed viewers, are actually a product of the passage of time and today research gives another result.

A new study revealed that the bright blue flowers were originally violet and not the painter’s intention; However, over the years the tonality of the painting changed, according to an exhaustive interdisciplinary study.

Admitted to a psychiatric hospital in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, Van Gogh found inspiration in the flowers grown in the facility’s garden. As revealed by the new exhibition Ultraviolet: new light on Van Gogh’s lilies, At the Getty Center in Los Angeles, the original hue of the flowers faded due to the pigment’s sensitivity to light, while conservators and scientists conducted research to reveal how that action transformed the colors.

The most striking result of this effort is a reconstructed version of the lilies, which exhibits the vivid violet hue that Van Gogh originally envisioned.

The interdisciplinary collaboration not only unraveled the secrets behind the chromatic changes, but also allowed us to better understand the techniques and materials used by the painter in his work.

The context of a unique work was the hospital gardens and the great event that remained for posterity occurred on May 9, 1889, one day after entering the psychiatric center, where he found solace with flowers in the midst of his fight against mental illness. Van Gogh shared his encouragement with his brother Theo, whom he told about his projects and his ability to turn adversity into art.

The Getty Center team used advanced technology, such as X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy and stereoscopic microscopes, tools that allowed the chemical composition of the painting to be analyzed in detail.

Scientists discovered that the original violet pigment, achieved by a mixture of blue and red called geranium lacquer, degraded over time due to its high sensitivity to light.

The lilies appear blue because of the fading of the red component, Getty curator Devi Ormond told Hyperallergic. The analyzes also revealed unexpected details, such as the fragment of stone pine pollen embedded in the painting, further linking the work to the hospital garden where Van Gogh created it.