Tin Man

The artist Vincent Van Gogh is known for his unconventional painting style and his long history of mental illness. Of the most well-known of his subjects are sunflowers, which he painted while in France. His paintings of the flowers exhibited his immense talent and his ability to do much with little. He was particularly celebrated for using three simple shades of the same color, yellow, to create such a varied and vibrant image. Van Gogh’s sunflowers are not merely an exercise in artistic talent; they also symbolize his own emotions. Van Gogh painted them in France while his friend Gaugin was visiting. The friendship between the two men is present in the paintings, which were also said to bring Van Gogh hope. In fact, Van Gogh once explicitly asserted, “The sunflower is mine,” and modern-day art critics have speculated that “the sunflowers were perhaps also intended to be a symbol of friendship and a celebration of the beauty and vitality of nature” (“Sunflowers.” The National Gallery). 

The meaning that Van Gogh instills in his sunflower paintings echoes throughout Tin Man as well, as Dora hangs a replica of one of Van Gogh’s paintings and uses it as a means to escape her dreary life, seeing it as a symbol of hope and confidence.