brilliance part 2

Sunflowers are native to the Americas. (See July 14 posting.) The earliest known examples of a fully domesticated sunflower were found at the Hayes archaeological site in Middle Tennessee and date back over 4,000 years.

In South America, the Incas used the sunflower as an image of their sun god. Gold representations of the flower, as well as seeds, were taken back to Europe early in the 16th century.

Sometime later, in France, sunflowers became a favorite of artist Vincent van Gogh. He painted a series of six still lifes with sunflowers while living at Arles in 1888 and '89. (Only five still exist; one was destroyed by fire in World War II on August 6, 1945.)

Vincent used the sunflower paintings to decorate the “yellow house” he shared with artist Paul Gauguin.

- Painting: "Vase with Twelve Sunflowers" (August 1888). Today located in Munich, Germany at the Neue Pinakothek.

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