Van Gogh painted his first sunflower canvases in Arles in August 1888 to decorate the room where his friend Paul Gauguin would stay. In January 1889, just weeks after the night he cut his ear, he painted this repeat of one of them.

It is a close repeat of the August version now in London. He made several repeats, partly because Gauguin had asked for one. Look at how many shades of yellow he used, and at the flowers in every stage of life, from fresh to wilting.