[3] The current painting depicts three sunflower blossoms in strong yellow tones with leaves and stems in a frontal view, whereby it only shows the upper half of the plants.
The current Sunflowers, created in 1926, was shown in the German section of an exhibition of international art in Pittsburgh, in 1930, where they caused a stir, similarly to other works on display by painters like Oskar Kokoschka.
In 1950, the General Director of Northwest German Broadcasting (NWDR), Adolf Grimme, bought the painting directly from Nolde, whom he had known before the war, by DM 10,000.
The owner of the painting stated that she thought that it was a reproduction and when she was searching for the location of the original, she discovered that it had been listed as stolen.
Due to the complex legal situation, the NDR paided EUR 20,000 to the widow for the return of the painting.
[5] The NDR had the authenticity of the painting examined by the Berlin Rathgen Institute , which concluded that it had been created in 1926.
Manfred Reuther, the director of the Nolde Foundation Seebüll, appraised the work from an historical point of view, and concluded that it was indeed a painting by Nolde, and that the signature, brushwork, colors, technique, canvas and motifs, and its general condition, indicated that it had been created in the period in question.