Some of Van Gogh’s most iconic flower paintings, like Almond Blossom (1890, pictured above) and Roses (1890), hold a fascinating secret. What appear today as delicate white blossoms were once vibrant pinks! The reason behind this transformation is as complex as it is poetic - much like real flowers, the red colour in many of Van Gogh’s floral paintings have faded, leaving behind a subtle reminder that things aren’t always as they seem.
Van Gogh had a particular fondness for paints made with Geranium Lake, a brilliant red lake pigment derived from eosin, an organic fluorescent dye. While beautiful and eye-catching, Geranium Lake had a fatal flaw: it faded rapidly under light, turning from vibrant rose-coloured red to a dull grey. This pigment, along with other red lakes Van Gogh used, like cochineal (made from crushed insects - seriously), had notoriously poor lightfastness, meaning they couldn’t withstand the test of time.
Vincent van Gogh, Roses, 1890 were originally pink.
As a result of Van Gogh's use of fugitive red pigments, many areas in Van Gogh’s paintings have lost their colour. Take his Irises, for example - the striking blue flowers were once purple, and were set against a bold pink background, but today, that pink has faded to white.
Almond Blossom is another example where the delicate flowers that we now see as white were originally soft pink buds, a mix of red and white that has since discoloured. If you look closely enough, you can still catch the faintest hint of pink in the buds.
Vincent van Gogh, Irises, 1890 were originally set against a pink background, which has faded to pale grey.
The fading of these colours was only discovered through advanced scientific techniques like X-ray fluorescence (XRF), which can detect the hidden traces of pigments long since disappeared from view. These analyses revealed that beneath the seemingly white flowers lies a history of vivid reds and pinks, quietly erased by time.
In the end, Van Gogh’s fading reds invite us to wonder about the stories hidden beneath the surface, and to appreciate the fragile beauty of both art and nature. His works remind us of the quiet, almost invisible ways that time alters everything. Just as flowers in full bloom are already on their way to wilting, perhaps the vibrant colours in Van Gogh’s paintings were always destined to fade, leaving behind something even more poignant: a reminder that nothing stays the same forever.
