The ANS Group has grown the wall using more than 8,000 plants of various species.
The artwork was created by hand-planting each plant into 640 modules, using a numbered drawing, which were grown at ANS’ southern nursery in Aldingbourne, hung vertically to establish and then delivered to the National Gallery.
The arrangement of plants is found on the western side of the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square.
The painting will be grown throughout the summer and autumn, remaining in place until the end of October 2011.
A Wheatfield, with Cypresses was painted in September 1889, when Van Gogh was in the St-Rémy mental asylum, near Arles, where he was a patient from May 1889 until May 1890.
Writing to his brother Theo early in September, Van Gogh promised to send his brother 'twelve size 30 canvases' and it seems likely that A Wheatfield, with Cypresses was one of them.
The painting was probably painted in a single sitting with some minor later additions and it is one of three almost identical versions of the composition. Another painting of the cypresses (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York) was painted earlier, in July 1889, and was probably painted directly in front of the subject.
It was decided that A Wheatfield, with Cypresses would work because the strong bands of colour can be reproduced effectively using living plants.
The living painting has been supported by General Electric (GE) and if you want to see the real thing then head to room 45 within the National Gallery.
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