Does it demonstrate his determination to get back to work? Or is it a cry for help? Perhaps it is both.įive months after painting this image Van Gogh realised that he could no longer live independently and he reluctantly retreated to an asylum just outside Saint-Rémy-de-Provence. But its precise message remains elusive for us today. The Courtauld self-portrait is a very carefully composed image, certainly not the impulsive work of someone suffering a mental crisis. This represents his homage to the art of Japan, which was such an inspiration. And on the other side hangs a Japanese print which he had pinned on the wall the Yellow House. Vincent includes his easel, on which he has placed an almost blank canvas (the vague marks are most likely the beginning of a flower still life). Instead the artist presents a highly confrontational image. He could have depicted the other side of his head or made the bandage appear less prominent. Painted in January 1889, less than a month after the terrible incident, he hardly shies away from the trauma. In the Courtauld's Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear (the centrepiece of the current exhibition), the artist probes his innermost emotions. Their collaboration was brought to an abrupt end on 23rd December 1888, when Van Gogh suffered a mental attack and cut off most of his left ear. After two years in Paris, Van Gogh set off for Arles, where he worked in the Yellow House and invited Paul Gauguin to join him. Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890) The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust) This helps to explain why 27 of the 35 self-portraits date from his Paris period, when he was experimenting and developing his unique style. Some of these smaller and less ambitious pictures were more in the way of studies. While in Paris, Van Gogh made many self-portraits to explore various techniques, including dramatic use of colour and brushwork. He is also revelling in his discovery of complementary colours, contrasting his orange beard against the blue fabric. In Self-portrait with Straw Hat (August–September 1887), he presents himself as a working artist, with his blue garment suggestive of a smock.īoth the colouring and the much looser brushwork show that Van Gogh had now discovered the Impressionists, who were to have such a dramatic impact on the development of his art. Just a few months later Vincent swapped this conventional headgear for a wide-brimmed straw hat, the most comfortable garb for a hot summer's day. His Paris self-portraits serve as a useful record of his painterly experiments.August–September 1887, oil on canvas by Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890) Throughout his life, Van Gogh has painted 36 self-portraits, each with a slightly different style, representing the painters evolutionary path in his art. It provided him easy access for exercise and it also gave him an opportunity for self-study that accorded with his wish to define his own persona as an artist. When van Gogh was lacking models, he chose his own likeness to work from. Paintings and Drawings of the Vincent van Gogh Foundation Amsterdam, 23 October 1968-12 January 1969, no. Masterpieces from the Van Gogh Museum, 15-24 March. He now saw himself as a man about town and he developed the self-confidence needed to think he merited a self-portrait. London, The Courtauld Gallery, Van Goghs Self-Portraits, 3 February. In Nuenen van Gogh had painted no self-portraits, but in Paris he tackled the task head-on.

Van gogh paintings self portrait