Vase with Red Poppies and Daisies, 1890 by Vincent van Gogh

During the ten years that Vincent van Gogh painted, he depicted many different genres; portraits, landscapes, and still lifes. Some of those still lifes were of bottles, chairs, shoes, or famously, flowers. From Van Gogh's Sunflowers, to his Irises, or his Roses, he brought life and emotion to his work - taking a subject matter that has been painted since the beginning of art and putting his unique perspective on it.

Van Gogh painted Vase with Red Poppies and Daisies in 1890, and would continue to paint flowers throughout his career. For an artist like Van Gogh, who was struggling to sell work and earn a living, money was always an issue. Painting flowers was an inexpensive endeavor, and Van Gogh wrote:

And now for what regards what I myself have been doing, I have lacked money for paying models, else I had entirely given myself to figure painting but I have made a series of colour studies in painting simply flowers, red poppies, blue corn flowers and myosotys. White and rose roses, yellow chrysanthemums."