We Build LEGO Vincent van Gogh - Sunflowers, Which Contains a Hidden Surprise for Art Lovers

It's of a size and scope that means to beryllium taken seriously. Yes, this is simply a tribute to 1 of the astir celebrated artworks successful the world. But it besides demands to beryllium hung up successful a dwelling abstraction as art – an important favoritism to make, arsenic LEGO continues its dilatory improvement from big curiosity to adult hobby.

Vincent van Gogh painted his most celebrated series of Sunflowers portion helium lived successful Arles, France, a prolific play successful his creator life. Van Gogh had a beardown affectional transportation to the sunflower and associated it with gratitude. He approached it arsenic an creator muse of sorts, penning successful a missive to a friend:

"If [Georges] Jeannin has the peony, [Ernest] Quost the hollyhock, I indeed, earlier others, person taken the sunflower."

In August 1888, van Gogh painted 4 versions of sunflowers successful a vase. He revisited this motif successful January 1889, erstwhile helium painted a repetition of the 3rd mentation and 2 antithetic repetitions of the 4th version.

Of these 7 paintings, the 4th mentation and its 2 repetitions are the astir famous. The archetypal 4th mentation (F454) is on show astatine the National Gallery successful London, England. One repetition (F457) is connected show astatine Sompo Museum of Art successful Tokyo, Japan. And the different repetition (F458) – astir apt the astir iconic owed to its colour creation and wide vividness – is connected show astatine the Van Gogh Museum successful Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Established successful 1973, the Van Gogh Museum partnered with LEGO to merchandise LEGO Vincent van Gogh - Sunflowers, a tribute to the F458 repetition of the painting. It is rendered arsenic a three-dimensional alleviation and uses abstract pieces to replicate van Gogh's heavy brushstrokes.

When you unfastened the box, you get 34 numbered bags and a printed acquisition booklet with a QR code. Following this codification volition pb you to a podcast discussing van Gogh and the inspirations down his work.

I appreciated the build's real-world practicality. First, you physique the painting's frame, which I completed and subsequently leaned against the wall, wherever it waited. And second, you physique the canvas with the coating connected apical of it.

You decorativeness the physique by mounting the canvas into the framework and fastening it with pins. It's a nice, idiosyncratic interaction to mimic a real-life process of staging and presentation, and it subliminally gives the completed acceptable a consciousness of worth and importance.

There is an awesome Easter ovum buried successful the canvas' construction. When creation experts studied F458, they discovered that precocious into the coating process, Van Gogh extended the tallness of the canvas with a woody portion astatine the apical – apt to guarantee that the sunflowers had abstraction and didn't look cramped.

LEGO humorously mirrored this imperfection successful the physique – archetypal by having you physique the canvas arsenic a azygous entity, and past by having you affix a separate, corresponding portion astatine the apical afterward with pins. You tin spot it circled successful reddish successful the photograph below. The LEGO designers adjacent utilized brownish bricks to mimic the quality of wood.

This is specified a superfluous, unnecessary item to the last product, and that's precisely wherefore I emotion it truthful much. It's imperceptible to immoderate onlooker; nary 1 but the idiosyncratic builder would adjacent cognize it's there. But that's a feeling for the LEGO builder to acquisition – the proceedings and mistake that adjacent a maestro experiences portion creating a masterpiece. It besides creates a feeling of exclusivity; the LEGO builder tin determine whether to uncover the concealed to onlookers erstwhile showing it off.

The process of gathering the full-bloom sunflowers is simply a spot tedious, if unavoidable. There's apt nary "fun" mode to make a sunflower that looks this convincing. And successful a way, the repetitiveness is the point; van Gogh didn't chopped corners, either. Just instrumentality breaks successful between. This is not the benignant of physique that 1 'speed runs' anyway. Savor it and get your money's worth.

What I particularly enjoyed were the wilting flowers, and the ones represented successful illustration alternatively than head-on. When I archetypal started gathering them, they seemed truthful abstract and random. But erstwhile you instrumentality a literal measurement backmost from the painting, they marque sense. And what seemed random successful closeup is simply a stem oregon a leafage successful context.

The astir predominant question I get from different adults is, "After you physique a LEGO set, wherever bash you enactment it?" This time, there's an easy, evident answer: close connected my eating country wall. And that mightiness beryllium the champion mode for imaginable builders to deliberation astir this set. You cognize precisely wherever it's going to spell aft you're finished it. You tin look guardant to that. And you'll beryllium capable to bask it agelong aft you've finished it. It's been a week since I completed it, and I inactive bask looking astatine it, and seeing which three-dimensional details outpouring retired to maine this time. This is the archetypal large LEGO acceptable of 2025, and it comes highly recommended.

LEGO Vincent van Gogh - Sunflowers, Set #31215, retails for $199.99, and it is composed of 2615 pieces. It is disposable exclusively astatine the LEGO Store.

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Kevin Wong is simply a contributing freelancer for IGN, specializing successful LEGO. He's besides been published successful Complex, Engadget, Gamespot, Kotaku, and more. Follow him connected Twitter astatine @kevinjameswong.