Flowers in a Blue Vase

c. 1875

Monticelli placed as much emphasis on the strong colors and thick, vigorous brushstrokes of this painting as he did on its simple subject—a compact bouquet in a plain vase, sitting on a loosely defined tabletop. This energetic technique was often criticized as too experimental, but it appealed to innovative artists including Vincent van Gogh, who was inspired by Monticelli’s work.

Medium	oil on panel
Dimensions	24 5/8 x 18 3/4 in. (62.5 x 47.6 cm) Frame: 32 5/16 x 26 1/2 x 2 5/8 in. (82.1 x 67.3 x 6.7 cm)
Object Number	1955.911
Acquisition	Acquired by Sterling and Francine Clark before 1955
Status	Off View

Image Caption

Adolphe-Joseph-Thomas Monticelli, Flowers in a Blue Vase, c. 1875, oil on panel. Clark Art Institute, 1955.911

Select Bibliography

Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Exhibit Five, Supplement: South Gallery. Exhibition catalogue. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1959. Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. List of Paintings in the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1970. Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. List of Paintings in the Sterling & Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1972. Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. List of Paintings in the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1984. Kern, Steven, ed. List of Paintings in the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1992. Lees, Sarah, ed. Nineteenth-Century European Paintings at the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute; New Haven and London: distributed by Yale University Press, 2012. Polley, Robert L., ed. Great Art Treasures in America's Smaller Museums. Text by Harold E. Haydon. New York: Putnam's, 1967.

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Provenance

Posetta collection;¹ [Georges Bernheim, Paris, sold to Knoedler, 18 Jan. 1927]; [Knoedler, Paris, sold to Clark, 9 June 1927]; Robert Sterling Clark (1927–55); Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1955. 1. According to Knoedler invoice. See the Clark’s curatorial file.