Sunshine c. 1894

Minna Roberth created this drawing, titled 'Sunshine', with pencil on paper. Immediately, sunflowers draw our gaze—symbols of adoration and longevity. In ancient Inca culture, their likeness was crafted into gold and placed in temples dedicated to the sun. Consider how these radiant blooms, originating in the Americas, have traversed continents, embodying different cultural meanings. In European art, the sunflower appears frequently in Van Gogh's still lifes, bursting forth from the canvas as symbols of life and friendship. Here, they stand beside a poem, framing a young woman on a porch gazing at the sunrise. The sunflowers remind us of the enduring human connection to nature. Throughout time, artists have used these solar symbols to evoke a sense of hope, mirroring our deepest longings for renewal and continuity. Each petal is a brushstroke in our collective memory.