The Golden Poinsettia

About this work

The flower head fills the upper half of the sheet, so it is the first thing anyone notices, a bold crimson star on black. Its pointed bracts radiate evenly from the centre, and the gold lines tracing every vein draw the eye inward to the small cluster of yellow-green buds at the heart. Below, four or five dark green leaves with engraved veins step down the woody red-brown stem towards the bottom edge, giving the bright head a calm, grounded base. The black background removes every distraction and makes the red look deeper and the gold sharper. Seen close, the veining looks like fine engraving lifted in gold; from across a room, the picture becomes a single glowing shape, simple and strong, with the drama of a stage spotlight.

The poinsettia, Euphorbia pulcherrima, is native to Mexico, where it is called flor de Nochebuena, the Christmas Eve flower. Its English name honours Joel Roberts Poinsett, the first United States minister to Mexico, who sent plants home to South Carolina in the 1820s. What most people take for red petals are bracts, modified leaves that change colour as the nights lengthen in late autumn. The true flowers are the tiny yellow-green structures in the centre, called cyathia, each a small cup holding much-reduced flowers. In this picture the cyathia form the small cluster at the heart of the star, and the gold veins quietly underline that the bracts are, in the end, leaves.

From Advent to Twelfth Night it makes a striking focal point above a mantelpiece or a dining-room sideboard, and the black and gold keep it elegant rather than merely seasonal, so it can stay on a dark wall into the new year. Charcoal, deep green, burgundy and warm white walls suit it. A black or brass frame works well, with or without a mat, and a warm picture light makes the gold veins glimmer. Pair it with The Golden Pine Cone for two gilded winter studies on black, or with Magnolia in Black and Gold for a year-round wall. Printed from the 7168 × 10752 px file, it stays sharp to about 60 × 90 cm. A Frame TV version with a gallery mat is included.