Vincent van Gogh's “Irises” (1889) was painted during his stay in a psychiatric clinic after he suffered a mental breakdown. (all images courtesy Getty, unless otherwise noted) Success!

After van Gogh’s brother Theo saw Irises in 1889, he submitted it to the Salon des Indépendants in Paris, where it was displayed and sold. “[It] strikes the eye from afar,” wrote Theo in a ...

In 1889, Vincent van Gogh committed himself to a psychiatric asylum in Southern France, where he spent a turbulent year creating roughly 150 paintings, including masterpieces such as “Irises ...