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Announcer: This is a Getty 
Podcast.

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Lilit Sadoyan: Today we’re
exploring Vincent van Gogh's

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powerful and enigmatic
painting Irises, from 1889.

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[Peaceful theme music begins]

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Welcome to Our Museum
Mindfulness Meditation

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Podcast, or OMMM.

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Part art history and part
meditation, we use works of

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art from the Getty collection
as inspiration for mindfulness

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and deep reflection.

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Hi—I’m Dr. Lilit Sadoyan.

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I’m a long-time meditation
practitioner and museum

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educator at Getty.

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Thanks for joining me
as we bring mindfulness

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out of the gallery and
into our daily lives.

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[Theme music ends]

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Today we are exploring the
power of presence in what

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is arguably the most iconic
painting at the Getty,

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Irises by Vincent van Gogh.

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This episode begins with a
breathing exercise to help

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relax your body and mind.

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We’ll then get a bit of
history and context for the

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painting, and we’ll close with
a meditation that cultivates

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awareness of our senses.

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This series is also available
as an audio podcast.

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If you’d like to step away
from a screen for a few

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minutes, listen on your
favorite podcast app.

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Now if you’re ready,
let’s jump in.

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[Gong leads into soft music]

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If you feel comfortable,
you can close your eyes.

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And let’s start by taking a
few deep breaths together.

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In through your nose [inhales].
Out through your mouth [exhales].

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Deep breath in [inhales].

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Deep breath out [exhales].

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Inhale.

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Exhale.

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And just let your breathing
resume its natural rhythm.

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If your eyes are closed
you can gently open them.

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[chimes ring]

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[Peaceful music begins]

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Let’s enter Vincent van
Gogh’s painting, Irises.

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An untended patch of blue
irises grows wildly in a garden.

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The brilliant blooms atop
sturdy stems and amidst pointy

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leaves seem to sway in the wind.

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They absorb the bright
light of the sun.

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They appear to be growing
in a row out of the reddish

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and burnt umber earth.

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Another cropped cluster of
flowers pops in from the

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bottom right corner and
leans towards the center.

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In the opposite corner, at
top left, orange flowers

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are loosely painted in.

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A solitary white iris stands at
attention near the left side.

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These vibrant blue irises were
in fact originally violet.

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Van Gogh mixed cobalt blue with
geranium lake red to paint them.

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But over time, the red has
faded, leaving the irises

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looking more blue than purple.

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[Music fades out]

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Even still, colors are in
conversation in this painting.

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The original violets
butted up against yellows,

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greens sit next to reds.

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These pairings are
complimentary colors, which

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Van Gogh understood created
dynamic visual effects

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when placed side-by-side.

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He said that in this
way, colors “attain [ed]

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maximum brilliancy.”

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The juxtapositions are even
more obvious when we look

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at the painted surface: the
application of thick paint, or

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impasto, intentionally placed,
one brushstroke next to another.

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It’s energetic and expressive.

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The warm earth is
painted wet-in-wet, each

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brushstroke blending colors
directly on the canvas.

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In other areas, Van Gogh
waited for the paint to dry

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before adding more layers,
leaving colors distinctively

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sitting side by side.

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The perspective of the
painting makes me imagine the

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artist observing the flowers
from down low to the ground.

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We see the flowers emerging
directly from the earth—an

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unusual focus for his flower
paintings, perhaps speaking

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to his own belief in the
regenerative cycles of nature.

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This low viewpoint eliminates
a horizon line altogether.

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Immersed in the smells of the
garden, sounds of the birds

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and the breeze, the sensation
of the warm Provençal sun on

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his skin, Van Gogh’s senses
must have been fully engaged.

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We are right there with him,
everything is intensely alive.

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[Gentle music begins]

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Vincent van Gogh began
painting Irises on May 8, 1889.

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He had just voluntarily checked
himself into an asylum, the

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Monastery Saint-Paul de Mausole
at Saint-Remy in Provence,

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in the south of France.

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He was experiencing a
mental health crisis and

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had suffered a breakdown.

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He arrived from Arles where
he had fought with fellow

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artist Paul Gauguin, who
had been temporarily living

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with him, and where Van Gogh
had been hospitalized after

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he cut off his own ear.

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[Music fades]

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The following day, Vincent
wrote to his brother Theo about

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starting this painting, noting,
“I believe that all my faculties

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for work will come back to me
quite quickly.” And just two

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weeks later, he noted to his
brother “life happens above all

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in the garden, it isn’t so sad.”

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[Nature sounds, including
birds, begin over soft music]

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In the first few weeks after
Van Gogh arrived at the

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asylum, he was not allowed
to leave the grounds.

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So he found one of the
first subjects in it’s

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garden: these irises.

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Painting during his stay
seems to have been very

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important for his recovery.

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He was even granted a second
room to use as a studio.

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[Music fades]

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Van Gogh’s path to art
was not traditional.

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He was the son of a Reformed
Protestant minister in

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Holland, and he became
increasingly religious

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throughout his young adult life.

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He attempted to study theology
and was a lay preacher.

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He also took jobs as an art
dealer and a schoolmaster.

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In 1880, at the age of 27,
and at the urging of his

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brother Theo–but much to their
parents’ chagrin–Van Gogh

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decided to become an artist.

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He was largely self taught.

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His early works focused
on peasant life, farmers,

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weavers, and workers.

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He moved to Paris in 1886, six
years after he had decided to

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pursue art, where he encountered
the work of the Impressionists.

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Here, he transitioned
away from a dark palette.

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As his work grew progressively
brighter, he developed his own

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style of painting, his iconic
short and layered brush strokes.

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At this time, he also discovered
Japanese woodblocks, which

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inspired his bold outlines and
cropping, as seen in Irises.

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[Nature sounds begin]

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Nature, gardens, can be places
for recovery and rejuvenation.

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But did Van Gogh’s composition
hold a deeper symbolism as well?

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The lines of the composition
seem to direct the viewer’s

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attention to the single
white iris near the left

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edge of the painting.

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Leaves, flowers, even the
artist’s signature seem to point

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towards the singular bloom.

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It has been suggested that
this flower might be a kind

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of self-portrait: the one
that is isolated, stands

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out, doesn’t quite fit in.

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But is that what Van Gogh had
in mind when he painted it?

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We don’t know.

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Yet its inclusion nevertheless
provides an anchor to

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the complex composition.

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The painting wouldn’t
be the same without it.

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And he guides our
eye right to it.

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This painting offers itself
up as an invitation to

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get low to the ground.

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To come face-to-face
with the flowers.

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To pay attention to
things overlooked.

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To be fully immersed in the
beauty and gift of nature.

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And Van Gogh understood this to
be a mindful activity, writing

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just a couple months later,
“I feel obliged to go out and

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look at a blade of grass, the
branch of a fir tree, an ear of

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wheat, in order to calm down.”

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So let’s accept this invitation
to imagine ourselves fully

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present, aware of our
senses and the sensations

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of the world around us.

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[Gong, then gentle music]

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If you feel comfortable, I
invite you to close your eyes.

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If you would prefer to keep
your eyes open, that’s ok.

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Just lower your gaze and
lower your lids to minimize

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visual distraction.

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Use this time to go inward.

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And adopt a posture that
feels both relaxed and

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alert in your body, whatever
that means for you today.

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Feel a sense of ease.

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And let’s begin by taking a
few deep breaths together.

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In through your nose [inhales]

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Out through your mouth [exhales]

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Arriving with each breath in,

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settling with each breath out.

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Deep inhale.

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Deep exhale.

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And just let your breathing
resume its natural rhythm.

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So there’s no need to force
or extend anything here.

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Just let your body do what
it does very naturally.

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And see if you can pay attention
to the way that the breath

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moves in and out of the body.

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You can get very
specific with this.

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Notice, for example, what’s
the texture like today?

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Is it smooth or bumpy?

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What’s the temperature
like every time I breathe

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in and breathe out?

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Is it warm or cool on
my inhale and exhale

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right around my nostrils?

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Just notice for yourself.

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And see if you can follow
that breath in through

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your nasal passage and
down into your chest.

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Notice the rise and fall of
your chest with each breath

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in and each breath out.

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If your breath is
deeper than that, again,

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no need to force it.

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But if you can feel your breath
in your soft belly, notice your

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belly inflate and deflate like
a balloon with each breath,

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expanding and collapsing.

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And if your mind
wanders, that’s okay.

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Just notice the thoughts as
they arise and gently bring your

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awareness back to your breath.

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Use your breath as your
anchor to the present moment.

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Nowhere else to be, nothing
else to do but to be here now.

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[Silence]

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Another anchor to the
present moment is sound.

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Sounds are so spontaneous.

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We really never know what the
next sound is going to be.

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So tune into your environment,
however subtle or obvious.

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Notice how sounds
arise and dissipate.

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[Silence]

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And without a need to create
a story or a narrative around

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the sounds, notice for yourself
what is the closest sound

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that I can hear right now?

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And what is the farthest sound
that I can hear right now?

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And can you visualize the
space between those two sounds?

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How near or far are
they from one another?

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Letting that go.

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And I invite you to notice the
sensation of air on your skin,

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the temperature on your skin.

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Noticing the texture of
the clothes on your skin.

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And feeling into the surface
upon which you’re seated

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or standing or lying down.

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Coming into contact with
these surfaces through touch.

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Notice any lingering
scents in your environment,

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which aromas are present.

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Or is there an absence
of strong smells here?

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Without resisting or pushing
away, just notice them.

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And finally, notice how
these senses blend together,

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bringing your conscious
awareness to your physical body

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present here.

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Notice the sensations
in your body.

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And let’s close by taking
a deep breath together.

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Inhale.

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Exhale.

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If your eyes are closed,
gently open them, coming back

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to your environment, slowly
bringing your awareness back

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to the space that you’re in.

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[Theme music begins]

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As we return to the world,
let’s carry this sense of

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presence and awareness with us.

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Look at things around
you as if you are seeing

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them for the first time.

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Notice colors, shapes, and
light, and notice how your

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senses contribute to your
experience of the moment.

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Feel yourself there, fully
present, grounded in your

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00:16:27,579 --> 00:16:29,479
body and surroundings.

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00:16:31,159 --> 00:16:34,889
Use it as a reminder to be
in the present moment, and

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00:16:34,889 --> 00:16:36,499
notice how it makes you feel.

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00:16:38,699 --> 00:16:41,440
Let’s return to our breath
one last time and close our

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00:16:41,449 --> 00:16:45,019
practice by taking the biggest
breath you’ve taken all day.

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00:16:45,759 --> 00:16:46,249
In.

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00:16:46,259 --> 00:16:46,269
[inhales]

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00:16:48,889 --> 00:16:49,739
Sigh it out.

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00:16:49,750 --> 00:16:49,800
[exhales]

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00:16:52,169 --> 00:16:53,759
Thank you so much
for joining me.

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00:17:24,789 --> 00:17:24,949
[Music slowly fades out]