Sunflower imagery has an enduring quality that has been captured most famously in the work of Vincent van Gogh. Indeed, for many people the sunflower has become synonymous with his art, but, as this delightful book so amply demonstrates, the flower’s significance can be traced from pre-Columbian times to the present day. The book’s numerous, full-colour illustrations celebrate the image of the sunflower from its first apearance in sixteenth-century botanical texts to twentieth-century representations. Brief essays and reproductions survey the chronology of the sunflower in literature and art, highlighting its presence in the work of the Symbolists and the British Aesthetic movement as well as in Realist and Impressionist paintings.
