It turns out that the yellow color of Van Gogh's masterpiece "Himawari" fades as the source of light

byPapaver rhoeas

Seven pieces were produced from 1888 to 1889 using the same "flower-inserted sunflower" as a motif, "Himawari" widely known as a painter of painter Vincent van Gogh. Among them, when we conducted a survey with the latest technology on the works exhibited at the Van Gogh Museum, two yellow leads were used as pigments for yellow, one of which showed a tendency to fade when receiving light It turned out that there was.

Van Gogh's sunflowers are wilting as yellow paint fades to brown | Art and design | The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2018/may/31/van-goghs-sunflowers-are-wilting-as-yellow-paint-fades-to-brown


Out of the six pieces excluding one lost in the war damage, what kind of picture is "Himawari" displayed at the Van Gogh Museum can be seen in detail at the museum's official website.

Sunflowers - Van Gogh Museum
https://www.vangoghmuseum.nl/en/collection/s0031V1962

by Vincent van Gogh, January 1889

It is believed that the corresponding pigment is used because it uses petals and stalks drawn in bright yellow, stems and pale yellow background, and for other parts Van Gogh used a different pigment, it will not fade.

This was clarified by a study conducted over two years by the Dutch and Belgian scientists team. According to Frederick Van Melt of the University of Antwerp who was in charge of the investigation, Van Gogh also found that in addition to chrome, Van Gogh used emerald green and red lead pigments for the brightness of the picture.

Although it is said that yellow deteriorates or fades, although it is not understood at a moment by human eyes at this point, it is said, "How long it takes until it fades as you see by eye" It is very difficult and it depends on external factors, "Van Melt said.

To protect the work at the Van Gogh Museum, I changed the lighting of the exhibition room darkly five years ago, but in response to the results of this research, I'm thinking about the display method of "Himawari" again It is that.