Vincent van Gogh | Small bottle with peonies and blue delphiniums, 1886

Vincent van Gogh began experimenting with color in his still life flower series.

By the summer of 1885, the artist created some 40 paintings with a traditional approach, meaning that the flowers were in a vase and placed in the center of the canvas.

His 1886 painting Small Bottle with Peonies and Blue Delphiniums, done with oil on painter's board -a cheaper material than canvas-, from the Gemeente Museum collection, is one of them.

Flowers became the subject of many of the artist's works during this period.

But after painting over 10 species in mid-September, he sought out other subjects including fruit, shoes, fish and budding flower bulbs.

Vincent van Gogh | Small bottle with peonies and blue delphiniums, 1886 | Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam

Van Gogh painted this flower still life on a simple piece of card, using rapid, loose brushstrokes.

It is one of many studies in which he experimented with the effects of different colours on each other.

His brother Theo wrote to their mother: "He is mainly painting flowers, with the aim of making future pictures brighter in colour".

Theo wrote that acquaintances were giving Van Gogh a bunch of flowers every week.

This was one of the first bunches he painted; many more were to follow.