Bouquet of Spring Flowers in a Terracotta Vase

Jan van Huysum

National Gallery of Art

This painting shows a variety of flowers in a decorative light orange vase. The flowers are of a variety of sizes and colors, including bright orange, blue, white, red, and pink, surrounded by green leaves and stems. The vase is positioned centrally at the bottom of the painting, with most of the tall flowers extending upwards to the top of the painting. Some flowers also drip down the sides of the vase or lie on the surface below. The surface and the wall behind the vase are both light brown. The orange vase appears to have shapes either carved or painted on it, but they are hard to identify. The lines in this painting are loose and sketch-like, and the colors have been applied similarly, sometimes bleeding out of the outlines of the flowers.