Find a painting by subject matter?

June 23, 2009 7:28 PM

Help to find a print of a painting for my MIL. Difficulty:only have a description of the subject matter, not the title nor artist.

Dark Maroon background, subject matter is a pot of flowers (possibly poppies, possibly peonies) that "lean over onto the empty space of the canvas". This is a classic painting that is likely to have been made into prints.

My MIL thinks she saw this painting and wants to find a print but doesn't remember the artist or the title.

posted by Wild_Eep to media & arts (11 comments total)

This?
posted by fish tick at 7:41 PM on June 23

Or this?
posted by fish tick at 7:42 PM on June 23

Any idea whether it's realistic or somehow impressionistic? Here are a few I found that seemed close

• A parrot tulip peonies and other flowers by Jacques charles Dutillieu
• Flowers Large Bouquet with Three Peonies Painting by Henri Fantin-Latour
• Still Life with Roses, Peonies, Lilac, Morning Glories and other Flowers in a Greek Vase on a Stone Plinth by Georgius van Os
• Still Life of Flowers in a Copper Vase by Pauwel Casteels
• Vase with Poppies, Cornflowers, Peonies and Chrysanthemums by Vincent Van Gogh

None of these seem perfect, but all seem close.
posted by jessamyn at 7:44 PM on June 23

In this painting the pot is laying on its side.
posted by iconomy at 7:45 PM on June 23

Are you going to recognize the right one if it's linked here?
posted by iconomy at 7:46 PM on June 23

Tulips on Red?
posted by milkrate at 7:48 PM on June 23 [1 favorite]

This as close as my Google-Fu comes to your description:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3331/3192421575_8278bf8785.jpg

But this is a relatively new painting and wouldn't fit the "classic" bill. (Just in case, though)
posted by Avelwood at 7:57 PM on June 23

I'll be showing her the links to see if we're getting close... thanks for all of your help so far, and if anyone else has a suggestion, please add it.
posted by Wild_Eep at 8:32 PM on June 23

Are you going to recognize the right one if it's linked here?

Yes, it's my crazy mother who wants the print. If we show her the image I'm sure she'll be able to say "that's it!".

Thanks for all the ideas so far. I'm emailing them to her...
posted by Mrs_Eep at 8:35 PM on June 23

Also - based on her descriptions, I'd say it's a single type of flower in a vase. I immediately suggested Van Gogh and we looked through a few of his flower paintings. I'd say its definitely a Van Gogh or of a similar style.

Sorry, she is a bit of a nut and there were 4 small children running around making it difficult to have a conversation with her!
posted by Mrs_Eep at 8:39 PM on June 23

Art.com has posters of classical paintings and of more modern stuff, but they have the convenience of sorting by categories - here are their indexes for:
poppies, fine art
peonies, fine art

It sounds from your description like she remembers the flowers breaking out of the "frame" of the colored background, dipping into the white space outside? like this?

Or is it just that the flowers slouch down within the white frame? eg Peonies, Lilacs and Primulae, Johan Jensen

Obvious but maybe worth mentioning:
Georgia O'Keefe, Oriental Poppies
Georgia O'Keefe, Red Poppy

You could also try other flower types under "flowers by type - fine art".

If it might be something more contemporary like this, or this, try the category "decorative art" under each flower type.

A few other possiblities, working through paintings that are very, very broadly in the same vibe as Van Gogh (ie, 19th- early 20th c. European oils). If these seem familiar to her, you can click on the artist's name and then narrow by subject matter within that artist's work.
Anemone Bouquet, Renoir
Tulips in a Vase, Renoir
Martin Johnson Heade has a several paintings of single white flowers against dark backgrounds, posed kind of drooping off a tabletop - longshot possibility
posted by LobsterMitten at 10:50 PM on June 23