The Yellow – Blue Contrast in Van Gogh's Paintings

The vivid colors that we associate with Vincent Van Gogh are a major feature of   his work after he moved in 1888 to Arles, in the South of France. He was fascinated with the yellow and golden colors of the flowers and wheat fields. He used a wide range of the complementary colors in the blues to produce this magnificent contrast. In RGB, yellow is the opposite of blue. Orange is the opposite of azure. Golden colors are between yellow and orange. Van Gogh used a lot of complementary shades of blue that are between blue and azure. When you look at one of these paintings the eye is optically mixing these complementary hues. Optically mixed opposite colors are more vivid than either color alone.