After episodes of self-mutilation and hospitalization, Vincent van Gogh chose to enter an asylum. Within the first week, he began painting Irises. Each flower is unique as he carefully studied them creating a variety of curved silhouettes bounded by wavy, twisting, and curling lines. The painting's first owner, French art critic Octave Mirbeau wrote: "How well he has understood the exquisite nature of flowers!"

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Irises, 1889, Vincent van Gogh