Review: 31215 Vincent van Gogh – Sunflowers from LEGO® Art

LEGO® Art has been a polarising theme among the generally praised 18+ sets. So far, only a small minority of the theme's 20 sets have been versions of well-known works of art – and of those, most have been pop art pieces or logos easily transferred into the plastic material and the well-defined colour charts of LEGO bricks. The most interesting departure so far has been 31213 Mona Lisa, reviewed by Jonas Kramm last September and, outside the LEGO Art theme, LEGO® Ideas 21333 Vincent van Gogh - The Starry Night which I had pleasure to review in 2022. It's still my favourite set.

Whereas the bold blues of van Gogh's palette transformed delightfully into bricks, da Vinci's Renaissance idiom of thin, light layers resulted in a larger divergence from the original. The project was ambitious but the reception was mixed. 

I wonder if the good performance of the Starry Night made the designers look back to van Gogh and produce 31215 Vincent van Gogh – Sunflowers: he sure is an admired artist, but getting two among the very small number of painting-in-LEGO sets is not a small feat. With a quick look, the set seems to be very close to the original painting – but we'll have more than a quick one.

Products in this article were gifted by The LEGO Group; the author's opinions are their own.
This article contains affiliate links to LEGO.com; we may get a small commission if you purchase.

31215 Vincent van Gogh – Sunflowers

• Release date: 1 March 2025
• Pieces: 2615

Price: 

• US$ 199.99 on LEGO.com US
• CA$ 259.99 on LEGO.com Canada
• GB£ 169.99 on LEGO.com UK
• AU$ 299.99 on LEGO.com Australia
• NZ$ 349.99 on LEGO.com New Zealand
• DE€ 199,99 on LEGO.com Deutschland
• NL€ 199,99 on LEGO.com Nederland
• FR€ 199,99 on LEGO.com France
• PLN 879.99 on LEGO.com Polska
• NOK 2399,90 on LEGO.com Norge
• DKK 1549.95 on LEGO.com Danmark

Other countries click here

 

Interesting parts 

Recolours 

• 2x Tile Special 2 x 2 with 2 Quarter Round Cutouts in Bright Light Yellow (6554805 | 3396)
• 3x Tile 45° Cut 2 x 2 (Triangle) in Olive Green (6534119 | 35787)
• 3x Tile 1 x 2 with Stud Notch Right in Pearl Gold (6508086 | 5092)
• 15x Tile 1 x 2 with Stud Notch Left in Pearl Gold (6508101 | 5091)
• 10x Tile Round 1 x 2 Half Circle in Yellow (6527809 | 1748) - 2 extra
• Tile 2 x 2 Curved, Macaroni in Bright Light Blue (6527817 | 27925)
• 5x Tile 1 x 2 with Stud Notch Right in Bright Green (6527816 | 5092)

With a two-dimensional set like this, new modified tiles shouldn't be a surprise. As the original painting is asymmetrical, the pairs are quite unbalanced in numbers. Bad for builders, good for the set.

• 13x Animal Body Part, Horn (Cattle) / Tentacle / Vine / Branch / Tongue - Long in Yellow (6527818 | 13564) - 1 extra
• 16x Animal Body Part, Horn (Cattle) / Tentacle / Vine / Branch / Tongue - Long in Dark Green (6527810 | 13564) - 2 extra
• 10x Animal Body Part, Horn (Cattle) / Tentacle / Vine / Branch / Tongue - Long in Olive Green (6534129 | 13564) - 1 extra

The cattle horns have admirable likeliness to van Gogh's thick oil paint strokes. Physically, they're just like paint bits dried on a palette after too long a break between painting sessions. Three new colours in decent quantities should please builders.

• 10x Plate 2 x 16 in Reddish Brown (6527823 | 4282)

This set's "I wouldn't have guessed this didn't exist yet" piece.

• Wedge Plate 2 x 4 27° Left in Olive Green (6534120 | 65429)
• Wedge Plate 2 x 4 27° Right in Olive Green (6534117 | 65426)
  
• 11x Wedge Plate 2 x 4 27° Left in Yellow (6527828 | 65429)
• 14x Wedge Plate 2 x 4 27° Right in Yellow (6527821 | 65426)
• 9x Wedge Plate 2 x 4 27° Left in Pearl Gold (6527824 | 65429)
• 13x Wedge Plate 2 x 4 27° Right in Pearl Gold (6508103 | 65426)

Fortunately, the quantities of lefts and rights of these wedges are almost even. Wedge plates this pointed are rare, and the design utilises their petal-like shapes.

• 9x Tile Special 1 x 2 Diamond Plain in Olive Green (6534122 | 35649)
• 7x Bar Holder with Clip in Dark Green (6527812 | 11090)
• 7x Plate Special 1 x 1 with Clip Vertical [Thick Open O Clip] in Pearl Gold (6540813 | 60897)
• 5x Animal Body Part, Barb / Claw / Tooth / Talon / Horn, Small in Bright Green (6527826 | 53451) - 1 extra

The LEGO® Elves  jewel is still a relatively rare piece, but I'm happy to see it appearing in new colours. Putting it in the tile family feels unintuitive, though, as it has a bar and no antistuds. 

The pearl gold vertical clips are very welcome as well; they're my number 1 choice for figure shoulders.

• 29x Plate Special 1 x 2 with Clip Vertical on End in Dark Tan (6540811 | 78256)
• 112x Plate Special 1 x 2 with Clip Vertical on End in Pearl Gold (6508078 | 78256) - 1 extra, orange tint

Speaking of vertical clips, the 1x1s were just a prelude - there are 141 more to make the petals.

• 6x Tile 4 x 4 Curved, Macaroni in Olive Green (6534127 | 27507)
• 1x Tile Round 3 x 3 in Dark Orange (6527827 | 67095)
• Plate Round 4 x 6 in Pearl Gold (6508082 | 3766)
• 5x Plate Round 6 x 6 with Hole in Pearl Gold (6508088 | 11213)
• Plate Round 8 x 8 in Green (6527830 | 74611)

The appearance of the 4 x 6 round plate in 2023 baffled us, and it has remained rare ever since. Getting one blinged up in pearl gold feels extra good. 

Rigid Hoses

• Hose Rigid 3mm D. 13L / 10.4cm in Reddish Brown (6540829 | 75c13) - New Recolour, 1 extra
• Hose Rigid 3mm D. 14L / 11.2cm  in Reddish Brown (6436081 | 75c14)- in 6 other sets, 1 extra

Only the 13L hose is new, but I photographed both of them as they're relatively unusual pieces. The plate is there for scale. 

You only need one of each, so there are 100 % extra. In general, as you can see from these listings, the extra piece numbers are wilder than usual, and there are extras for some pieces that do not usually get any. I'm not certain why this is; perhaps TLG have altered the criteria for which elements receive extras, or "overdose" as they are called internally.

New print

• Tile 2 x 6 with Vincent Signature Pattern in Tan (6515212)

There might be some objections about printed parts in LEGO Art sets, but I think that a signature makes a good excuse. 

Rare parts

• 9x Animal Body Part, Horn (Cattle) / Tentacle / Vine / Branch / Tongue - Long in Bright Green (6498802 | 13564) +2 extra – also in 76297 Dancing Groot (see Kev's review of set 76297) 
• 2x Plate Special 4 x 4 with 3 x 3 Quarter Round Cutout in Yellow (6474986 | 35044) – in 2 other sets
• 2x Plate 3 x 3 Corner in Olive Green (6473445 | 77844) – also in 10326 Natural History Museum (see TobyMac's review of set 10326)
• Tile 1 x 2 with Stud Notch Left in Bright Light Blue (6510134 | 5091) – in 2 other sets
• Tile 1 x 2 with Stud Notch Right in Bright Light Blue (6510147 | 5092) – in 2 other sets
• Tile 1 x 2 with Stud Notch Right in Tan (6491421 | 5092) – also in 10359 Fountain Garden (see Caz's review of set 10359)
• Wedge Plate 2 x 4 27° Left in Dark Green (6515237 | 65429) - also in 10370 Poinsettia (see Tom's review of set 10370)
• 2x Plate Round 6 x 6 with Hole in Dark Orange (6495165 | 11213) - also in 75683 Glinda & Elphaba's Dormitory
• 3x Bracket 1 x 1 - 1 x 1 Inverted in Pearl Gold (6501308 | 36840) – also in 75398 C-3PO (see my parts review of set 75398)

• 10x Tile 1 x 2 with Stud Notch Left in Yellow (6510138 | 5091) – in 2 other sets
• 24 x Tile 1 x 2 with Stud Notch Right in Yellow (6510151 | 5092) +1 extra – in 2 other sets
• 11x Tile 45° Cut 2 x 2 (Triangle) in Pearl Gold (6286193 | 35787) – also in 75398 C-3PO
• 7x Wedge Plate 2 x 2 Left in Pearl Gold (6498728 | 24299) – also in 75398 C-3PO
• 8x Wedge Plate 2 x 2 Right in Pearl Gold (6498729 | 24307) – also in 75398 C-3PO

New Bright Light Yellow

Bright Light Yellow, or 226 Cool Yellow to give it its official LEGO Colour ID and Name, was introduced around 2004 as a replacement for 3 Light Yellow.

The official PR images of set 31215 Sunflowers and Tim's pictures of the copy shown at Fan Media Days show curiously severe colour differences between the various Cool Yellow pieces that form the background colour of the painting. I'm relieved to tell you that the pieces in my review copy are all pretty uniform. 

However, some of the existing bright light yellow parts have new Element IDs, and apparently the official LEGO colour chart has a new instance: 427 Cool Yellow. We suppose that this new Colour ID for an existing hue means that this set uses a new formulation of this colour. 

I compared the new pieces to some of my own bright light yellow 2x4 tiles. In general, the new pieces from 31215 Sunflowers are a bit more opaque, lighter in hue and slightly less vibrant. 

However, some of the older Cool Yellow pieces in my collection shared these qualities as well – the ones with "©2008 The LEGO Group" embossed in them, which I believe are earlier instances of pieces in this colour. 

In summary, it seems that TLG have a new bright light yellow recipe to tackle the colour differences seen in recent times, but due to these past variations, the new hue is close to some older pieces.

The Sunflowers

Vincent van Gogh made several still life paintings with sunflowers. The chosen version features yellow flowers in a yellowish pot, positioned on a yellow table against a yellow wall. I like that; the painting radiates the vibe of a hot summer afternoon.

The sunflowers are portrayed in the different phases of their life cycle, so there are not many in the phase that you could consider to be the "Platonic Ideal" of sunflowers found in people's heads – deep yellow petals with reddish brown centre and green leaves. 

Surprisingly, the vital, round sunflowers are made in pearl gold – as though they have ripened in the warm summer sun. The colour is less vibrant than the yellow and bright light yellow around it. This is an interesting change to how pearl gold is usually used in sets and MOCs, where it adds extra bling, making things warm and impressive. Here, the effect is almost the reverse – but it  works better than dark tan, for example, would have done.

The pearl gold flowers are the most repetitive parts of the build, which is otherwise generally enjoyable. They're built separately, then attached into the painting. The other flowers are built on-site, layer by layer, like in a real painting. It's fascinating to see how the withering flowers are formed piece-by-piece, with their delightful cattle horns feeling like paint blots. 

The background is very simple, with its distinctive contours, using rigid hoses and an offset layer of dark tan and bright light blue under the yellow and tan pieces.

I noted in my 75398 C-3PO parts review that some of the new pearl gold pieces (recent moulds and pieces that previously appeared mostly in transparent colours) have a slightly reddish tone. This is also apparent here in the sunflowers; their 1x2 plates with vertical clips (new recolour) is somewhat more orange than the grille slopes and the 1x1 plates, both several years old elements. 

It's no problem in the final build, as real painting (and flowers) have variance in hue. In C-3PO, this variance was more jarring.

The simple, somewhat modern frame is the first section to be built, and the last step of the building instructions features 5L axles with a stopper, used to connect the painting to its frame. The way they are pushed in is very satisfactory. 

The actual "canvas" is made of light bluish grey 16x16 plates, with a thinner strip in the topmost part imitating the additional block bolted in by van Gogh to improve the composition.

Conclusion

31215 Vincent van Gogh – Sunflowers is a close rendition of the original painting. It uses LEGO colours in a fresh way and includes a wide range of wedge tiles and plates, some of which are quite recent moulds. I think the appeal of this set is closely dependent on the appeal of van Gogh's original; unlike the Mona Lisa set, it's very close.

As a parts pack, it has plenty of recolours to offer, but the asymmetrical numbers of several wedge parts makes it somewhat challenging to use. For the price of US$199.99/ £169.99/ 199.99€/ AU$299.99, it offers an enjoyable build experience and a good display model (that doesn't even need much shelf space, as you can hang it on the wall). The value with 2615 parts is decent, but I nonetheless doubt that many people will buy it for its parts only. There are far better parts packs around. 

I don't think that this quite meets the super high quality of 21333 Vincent van Gogh - The Starry Night; those blues and green are just too good. However, 31215 Sunflowers is considerably larger and closer to an actual painting as a decorative item. 

Now available from LEGO.com

 

 

READ MORE: The 3 small LEGO® Technic March 2025 sets 42203, 42204 & 42205 are reviewed

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