Self-Portrait with a Straw Hat (obverse: The Potato Peeler)
Vincent van Gogh
1472 likes142 comments
The Story
The Dutch Post-Impressionist painter Vincent van Gogh painted a self-portrait in oil on canvas in September 1889. The work, which may have been his last self-portrait, was painted shortly before he left Saint-Rémy-de-Provence in southern France. It is now in the collection of the Musée d'Orsay in Paris. This self-portrait was one of about 32 produced by van Gogh over a 10-year period, and these were an important part of his work as a painter; he painted himself because he often lacked the money to pay for models.
He took the painting with him to Auvers-sur-Oise, near Paris, where he showed it to Dr. Paul Gachet, who, according to Van Gogh, was "absolutely fanatical" about it. Art historians are divided as to whether this painting or the self-portrait without a beard in a private collection is van Gogh's final self-portrait. The art historians Ingo F.
Executed in Oil on artist's board, mounted on cradled panel, measuring 41 × 32.5 cm (16 1/8 × 12 13/16 in.); Framed: 61.6 × 53.4 × 8.9 cm (24 1/4 × 21 × 3 1/2 in.), the surface rewards close looking. Vincent van Gogh builds the composition through layered glazes and a tightly controlled palette, letting cool shadows recede so that the warm, lit passages step forward.
Look closely and the painting opens up. Objects you might pass over — a folded letter, a half-drawn curtain, the angle of a glance — were placed to be read. Likeness was only part of the job; the painting also had to argue for the sitter's place in the world.
Today the painting is held by Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago, where it remains a touchstone for understanding Vincent van Gogh's contribution to Western art. It has been studied, copied, restored, and argued over for centuries — proof that great paintings keep generating new readings long after their creators have gone.
“A silence so complete it becomes its own witness.”
