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Vincent van Gogh, Self-Portrait
as an Artist, 1888 |
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Look carefully at this face.
Van Gogh painted it during his stay in Paris. He presented it to his brother Theo shortly before he moved to Arles, in the south of France.
Van Gogh posed himself as the established painter he believed he had become,
despite his lack of sales. He gave himself a serious expression, a three-quarter
pose, and the props—brushes, palette, and easel—that Rembrandt and
other great painters of the past had used in their own self-portraits. Van
Gogh had seen such classic self-portraits in the Louvre (a famous museum and
originally a royal palace) in Paris.
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By linking himself to the great artists of the past, Van Gogh is expressing his wish to be taken seriously as an artist. He seems to show, however briefly, a new self-confidence.
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Van Gogh in the South of France
While the composition of this self-portrait suggests self-confidence, Van
Gogh’s expression and restless
brushwork suggest strain and even worry. Van Gogh was exhausted by the
temptations of Paris with its fast nightlife. He hoped to recover in the warmer
temperatures and the calmer pace of Arles. Van Gogh soon settled there. It’s
obvious he was passionate about his work. In just 444 days he completed more
than 200 paintings and about 100 drawings, and he wrote more than 200 letters.
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Nonetheless, in Arles he suffered a series of nervous breakdowns (he cut
off the tip of his ear during one). In early 1889, he entered a
hospital in nearby Saint-Rémy. Van Gogh felt strongly that the only
way he could recover from his illness was to start painting again.
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Vincent van Gogh, Farmhouse in Provence, 1888 |
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In July while painting in the fields around the hospital, he suffered another severe emotional crisis that left him unable to work for several weeks. Here is the first painting he made after this episode—a self-portrait.
Van Gogh included his palette and brushes in the work. Perhaps he was trying to reassert his identity as an artist. He used strong colors and broad brushwork—again conveying nervous energy.
Look at the same painting in more
muted colors. Now see what it looks like with the brushstrokes
smoothed out.
What do these changes do to the self-portrait and to your ideas
about Van Gogh at that point in his life?
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Vincent van Gogh, Self-Portrait, 1889 |
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Van Gogh painted another self-portrait soon after this one. Compare the two “Van Goghs” painted as he recovered from his illness.
Here is what he wrote about these two in a letter to his brother Theo. You can figure out which is which from the way they look.
Read the letter in French
Van Gogh says he was calmer in the one with the light blue swirling background.
Does that surprise you? If you thought the swirling background might suggest he was more upset or nervous, you’re not alone. But Van Gogh was making a comparison. The dark swirls of paint, his greenish skin tone and burning gaze make the earlier portrait more agitated.
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