Are Van Gogh's Sunflowers public domain? Versions and file rights

Short answer

Yes—the National Gallery’s August 1888 Sunflowers, NG3863, has a supported public-domain record in the United States, United Kingdom and European Union.

The US and exact-file findings cover NG3863 only; the other six Arles versions need their own US publication evidence and image-file checks.

Artwork copyright verdict

Sunflowers: checked, with file-level limits

Last reviewed2 October 2026

A guide to the seven Arles canvases, with US copyright and exact-file findings only for National Gallery NG3863.

01

Artwork copyright

Van Gogh’s seven Arles vase canvases from 1888–1889 comprise four originals and three repetitions. Five are now in public collections, one is private and one was destroyed. Only NG3863 has a US copyright finding here; the other versions are comparisons, not cleared works.

02

Physical object

The National Gallery owns NG3863, but the other surviving canvases have different owners. A verdict about one object record or download does not migrate across the series.

Open object record ↗

03

Exact image file

The recorded file reproduces only NG3863. National Gallery website images carry CC BY-NC-ND terms, so this guide instead uses the exact Commons file assessed as PDM.

Work-level matrix

Jurisdiction checks

Not a worldwide claim

United Statessupported public-domain record

For NG3863 only: the National Gallery records the London canvas as reproduced in the Leicester Galleries’ 1923 exhibition catalogue, no. 26. The exact Commons record also marks NG3863 as published before 1931 and public domain in the US. The other six Arles versions’ US status is not assessed here.

United Kingdompublic-domain term

The standard literary, dramatic, musical and artistic-work term in CDPA 1988 §12 is life plus 70 years. Van Gogh died in 1890; on that standard calculation this work was public domain from 1 January 1961. Moral rights and non-copyright restrictions are separate.

European Unionpublic-domain term

Directive 2006/116/EC applies a standard life-plus-70 term, calculated from 1 January after the relevant event. Van Gogh died in 1890; on that standard calculation this work was public domain from 1 January 1961. National moral-rights rules remain separate.

Source file record

One exact file, not blanket permission

Open source record ↗

Upstream

Wikimedia Commons faithful reproduction of National Gallery NG3863

Original SHA-1

5ea4ccc4f6773dafe3aa096b0e05f7a57e1769af

Fetched asset SHA-256

0f25b5bd33d317c9d443e9a130fd2f8697e2c62173bd3645a4e5ad6285cbd7cf

GeMarkt derivative

/blog/art-history/artwork-rights-van-gogh-sunflowers.webp

Derivative SHA-256

1e17d97cb0fab87b1242cb25b59e4296880005a043da383452b6a2f31d039848

Dimensions / bytes

1800 × 2288 pixels · 1,339,566 bytes

Rights statement

Public Domain Mark; faithful two-dimensional reproduction

Transformation

Commons 1,920-pixel preview resized to 1,800 pixels wide and converted to WebP; no crop or colour edit.

Use guidance: This file is NG3863 only. Do not use it as provenance for the Amsterdam, Munich, Philadelphia, Tokyo, private or destroyed versions, and do not substitute the National Gallery’s CC BY-NC-ND web image.

Practical use

• Reuse the exact NG3863 Commons file where the public-domain assessment applies.
• Name the city, institution or catalogue identifier whenever “Sunflowers” could mean another canvas.
• Check US publication evidence and the exact file for every other version; Van Gogh’s expired standard UK/EU term does not establish either.

Evidence opened in this review

1. US Copyright Office: 17 U.S.C. §303 (law)
2. US Copyright Office: publication regulation (law)
3. UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 §12 (law)
4. UK IPO notice on digital images and contract terms (terms)
5. EU Directive 2006/116/EC (law)
6. EU DSM Directive Article 14 (law)
7. National Gallery NG3863 object and series record (object)
8. National Gallery provenance: NG3863 reproduced in the 1923 Leicester Galleries catalogue, no. 26 (publication)
9. National Gallery guide to the seven Arles versions (object)
10. Exact Commons file for NG3863 (file)
11. National Gallery website image licence (terms)

General information, not legal advice. Re-check the exact source record, local law and any contract that applies where you use the file.

Sunflowers is not one painting

Van Gogh made seven Arles vase canvases in 1888–1889: four original compositions in August 1888 and three repetitions in January 1889. Five survive in public collections, one remains privately held, and one was destroyed in Japan during the Second World War. A page that says “the Sunflowers image” without naming a version has already lost the provenance trail.

The US copyright finding and exact-file record here concern only the National Gallery’s August 1888 canvas, NG3863. The other six Arles versions are included to help identify them, not to clear their US status or image files. Van Gogh’s standard UK/EU term is discussed separately below.

Bounded version matrix

Version	Present record	US and exact-file scope in this guide
August 1888, London	National Gallery, NG3863	GO: work-specific US evidence and exact Commons PDM file recorded above
August 1888, Munich	Neue Pinakothek	HOLD: US status not assessed; no exact file selected
January 1889, Amsterdam	Van Gogh Museum	HOLD: US status not assessed; no exact file selected
January 1889, Philadelphia	Philadelphia Museum of Art	HOLD: US status not assessed; no exact file selected
January 1889, Tokyo	Sompo Museum of Art	HOLD: US status not assessed; no exact file selected
Private version	Private collection	HOLD: US status not assessed; object access and exact file not established
Destroyed version	Destroyed in 1945	HOLD: US status not assessed; surviving photographs need separate rights checks

This is a bounded identity table, not a catalogue raisonné and not a promise about every image of each canvas.

Work-level evidence

The National Gallery’s object and series records distinguish four 1888 originals from three 1889 repetitions. For the London canvas, the museum’s provenance records a reproduction in the Leicester Galleries’ 1923 exhibition catalogue, no. 26. The exact Commons page for NG3863 also states the pre-1931 US publication basis and public-domain finding. That evidence is specific to NG3863, not all seven canvases.

Van Gogh’s 1890 death places his own work beyond the standard life-plus-70 term in the UK and EU. For the United States, each version still needs its own publication evidence. The other six versions remain unassessed here; neither their creation dates nor their shared artist establish the missing US and file findings.

Exact file: NG3863 only

The source is the named Commons faithful reproduction of National Gallery NG3863. The original revision SHA-1 is locked; a 1,920-pixel preview is resized to 1,800 pixels and converted to WebP without cropping or colour edits.

The National Gallery’s own website licence is CC BY-NC-ND for much of its imagery. That is why the guide does not call an image “free” merely because the museum owns a public-domain Van Gogh. It records the Commons file separately and tells the reader not to substitute the gallery download.

A close look at the London canvas

Yellow is not a single flat field here. The background, table, vase, petals and seed heads move through greenish, lemon, ochre and brown notes. Thick outlines keep the vase and blooms legible even as their colours approach one another.

Some flower heads are frontal discs; others turn sideways or collapse. The picture therefore carries time inside a still life—bud, bloom, drying head—without requiring a symbolic code. For other versions, close looking should begin again with the correct canvas and file rather than treating the London image as a universal substitute.