Vase with flowers 1992

George Mavroides painted this ‘Vase with Flowers’ with an intensity that captures more than just the visual appearance of flowers. At first glance, the vase of yellow flowers seems a simple domestic scene. Yet, flowers in art have been used to symbolize the ephemeral nature of life. Yellow itself is a complex symbol, signifying joy and enlightenment, but also caution and decay. The lush, almost aggressive brushstrokes lend an urgency to the painting, as if the artist is grappling with time itself. Consider how floral motifs appear in Dutch still life paintings, serving as memento mori, reminders of mortality. Here, however, the vibrant colors suggest a celebration of life, a defiance against the inevitable passage of time. This duality reflects our own conflicted relationship with time – our subconscious awareness of the fleeting present moment, a theme that perpetually resurfaces, evolving through human history.