Oleanders, 1888
Vincent van Gogh (Dutch, 1853-1890)

For Van Gogh, oleanders were joyous, life-affirming flowers that bloomed "riotously" and were "continually renewing" themselves.
In this painting of August 1888, the flowers fill a majolica jug that the artist used for other Arles still lifes; they are symbolically juxtaposed to Zola''''''''s "La Joie de Vivre," a novel that Van Gogh had earlier placed in contrast to an open bible in a Nuenen still life of 1885.