Now this is a Lego set suitable for framing.
Soon Lego will release an artful 2,615-piece set based on Vincent van Gogh’s Sunflowers painting in collaboration with the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, which has the original work in its permanent collection. There’s no oil paint required for this rendition, though: The Lego set has enough blocks to make 16 sunflowers with adjustable petals, plus a tile with Van Gogh’s signature and a removable frame.
The set is currently available for preorder for $199.99 and will ship starting March 1. Lego’s Amsterdam store and the Van Gogh Museum will permanently display sets of their own beginning March 1 as well.
Working with the museum helped Lego designers delve into the details of the 1889 painting, according to designer Stijn Oom. One of the greatest challenges they faced was re-creating the “impasto effect,” wherein Van Gogh heavily layered on paint. Indeed, the Lego version pops in 3D. “We are incredibly proud of the result and hope our fans enjoy building it as much as we enjoyed bringing Van Gogh’s masterpiece to life,” Oom said.
Lego partnered with the museum for a podcast episode that will be available in March about Van Gogh and the creation of the Lego “Sunflowers” set, so builders can learn about the painting’s history while assembling the piece brick by brick.
“We hope this Lego set will inspire and engage new audiences with the art and life story of Vincent van Gogh,” Rob Groot, the museum’s managing director, said in a statement.
The set is Lego’s latest foray into the world of art history. Last year, the toy maker turned Van Gogh’s Starry Night into a 2,316-piece set, and it’s also made sets of Art Hokusai’s The Great Wave, Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, and Robert Indiana’s LOVE sculpture, as well a detailed re-creation of the Notre Dame Cathedral.
In recent years Lego has leaned into more complex—and pricey—toys and sets aimed at adults, including collections based on outside intellectual property, like Marvel and Star Wars, to grow its customer base and bottom line. Legos aren’t just for kids’ toy bins anymore. You can literally hang them on your walls.
