Over the centuries, plants and flowers have featured heavily in famous works of art, and artists often take the opportunity to capture their beauty. These works can be seen in art galleries worldwide, but if you can’t get there in person, check out a few of these online.

Sunflower by Gustav Klimt

The composition of this painting is fascinating; the foliage of the plant appears in a pyramid shape, with the actual sunflower at the top. Klimt’s work is very popular, and flowers appear in many of them, usually with people in the image too, but this just features the plant in a garden setting.

Flowers by Henri Matisse

Matisse painted plants and flowers many times in his career. This particular work of art was an early piece. The flowers are not defined in the painting, but even with the vague shapes, it is clear that the image is of flowers. In other images where it is a little unclear on the type of plant, or you aren’t sure what it is, try the getplanta.com app, which might be able to identify it for you. Understanding which plants are in the paintings can help with your enjoyment of the art.

Two Roses on a Tablecloth by Edouard Manet

This is one of the artist’s last works. In the last couple of years of his life, he painted a lot of small pieces, usually featuring floral arrangements in vases. This is the only one that did not include a vase. At this time, he suffered from a number of serious illnesses, and people brought flowers when they came to visit, which is one of the reasons that he chose to paint them.

Irises by Vincent van Gogh

While most people know that van Gogh liked to paint flowers, most are more familiar with his sunflower paintings, but the portrayal of irises is exquisite. In 1889 he was admitted to an asylum for mental health issues, and it was during this time that he completed this piece. He also painted a number of works in the asylum’s garden. The getplanta.com app would be useful to help to identify the flowers in those images.

Water Lilies by Claude Monet

Probably the most famous flowers in art, Water Lilies by Monet is not just one painting. It is a triptych, and when placed together, the work is vast. To see this in real life is incredible, but not everyone gets the opportunity. The good news is that Monet included water lilies in a number of works painted in his garden at Giverny, and these can be found in galleries all over the world.