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On the basis of style, scholars have allocated this still life to a group of works created in Corsica in 1898-1899. The trip to Corsica, the influence of the blinding light of the southern sun and the rich southern landscape, contributed to Matisse's rejection of the Impressionist atmosphere of changing, flickering light and air in his paintings. Almost Cezanne-like, Matisse made the air heavier, intensifying light and form. The sunflower motif - the flowers still continuing to radiate the sun's energy - may well not have been an accidental choice. Like the energetic impasto brushstrokes, it leads us to recall the work of van Gogh and to consider the latter's influence on the development of the young artist.