Yellow, Van Gogh's favourite colour

"He actually used three shades of the pigment chrome yellow: pale lemon, a deeper shade, and an orange hue. Although chrome yellow pigments initially provide a bright colour, unfortunately its intensity does not last. It fades and darkens over time. The Van Gogh Museum therefore now displays their painting under relatively low lighting, less than 50 lux of light. Just think, his Sunflowers would have originally looked even more intense than they do today."

"The Van Gogh Museum therefore now displays their painting under relatively low lighting, less than 50 lux of light. Just think, his Sunflowers would have originally looked even more intense than they do today. Between April 1888 and April 1889, Vincent asked Theo to send him no fewer than 66 large tubes of yellow chrome paint from Paris. This means that Van Gogh would have used, on average, over a third of a large tube of yellow for every one of his Arles paintings."

Yellow: Beyond Van Gogh’s Colour opened in Amsterdam and focuses on paintings where yellow predominates. Van Gogh described yellow in Arles as "pale sulphur yellow, pale lemon, gold." Sunlight appears yellow because atmospheric scattering makes the sky blue while the sun emits white light. Van Gogh’s Sunflowers include a prime August 1888 version in London and two later copies from late 1888–January 1889. The Amsterdam picture aimed for a "high yellow note" using three chrome yellow shades. Chrome yellow fades and darkens, so the museum displays the painting under less than 50 lux. Between April 1888 and April 1889 Van Gogh ordered 66 large tubes of chrome yellow, averaging over a third of a tube per Arles painting.

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