Van Gogh 'Sunflowers' brought together in London show

A hundred years after acquiring one of Vincent van Gogh's "Sunflowers," Britain's National Gallery in London will bring his vision to life by showcasing three works side-by-side for the first time.

The triptych, which features two from of his sunflower series, forms part of a major exhibition dedicated to the Dutch painter and titled "Van Gogh: Poets and Lovers."

The exhibit focuses on the post-impressionist's output during the two years that he spent in the south of France, in Arles and Saint-Remy de Provence, between February 1888 and May 1890.

"His art takes on a new amplitude, a new inventiveness, everything emerges from it," exhibition co-curator Christopher Riopelle told AFP of the period in Van Gogh's life.

"He becomes ever braver and bolder in how he paints, new freedom, new rhythms that enter in," Riopelle added.

The exhibition brings together some fifty paintings and drawings, which testify to Van Gogh's talent for raising emotions thanks to his subtle and intense use of colors.

Many are already well-known masterpieces, such as "Starry Night," but some had never left their original private collections or museums.

In a room with yellow walls, three paintings are notably exhibited: two "Sunflowers," one belonging to the National Gallery since 1924, and the other specially loaned by the Washington museum.

They surround "The Lullaby," a painting representing a woman, seated on an armchair.

"At a certain moment in beginning of 1889 he had five or six of these pictures in his studio, and he began to think, how do I want to show them?" Riopelle explained.

"And he had this wonderful idea that he should flank a 'Sunflowers' with a yellow background, with a 'Sunflowers' with a blue background.<...