In the spring of 1889, a week after checking himself into the asylum at Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, Vincent van Gogh walked into the garden and started painting irises. He was unwell, he knew that, but the flowers didn't care. They were absurdly alive — twisting, reaching, crowding against each other in violet and blue, every petal a small act of defiance against the quiet of the ward. His brother Theo saw the painting and called it striking. What he meant was that it vibrated.Van Gogh painted Irises as a study, almost a warm-up, before the larger, more tormented works that would follow. And maybe that's why it has always felt different from the rest of his catalog — looser, more joyful, less burdened. The brushwork is bold but not anguished. The composition is dense but not claustrophobic. It is one of the few paintings from that period that feels like it was made by someone who, for a morning at least, was simply grateful to be looking at something beautiful. The painting now lives at the Getty in Los Angeles, behind glass, in controlled light, surrounded by silence.These earrings bring that garden closer.David Howell and Company has rendered Van Gogh's irises in richly colored resin set in silver-plated brass — a pairing that gives the deep violet-blues a cool, clean frame without competing with them. At 1⅜ inches including the ear wire and just 2 grams per pair, they're remarkably light, the kind of earrings you forget you're wearing until someone asks about them. The ear wires are hypoallergenic and nickel-free, so they sit comfortably all day without complaint.Made in the USA by David Howell & Co.
