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Self-portrait, Vincent van Gogh
Self-portrait, Vincent van Gogh

In 1886 Vincent van Gogh left his native Holland and settled in Paris, where his beloved brother Theo was a dealer in paintings. Van Gogh created at least twenty-four self-portraits during his two-year stay in the energetic French capital. This early example is modest in size and was painted on prepared artist’s board rather than canvas. Its densely dabbed brushwork, which became a hallmark of Van Gogh’s style, reflects the artist’s response to Georges Seurat’s revolutionary pointillist technique in A Sunday on La Grande Jatte—1884. But what was for Seurat a method based on the cool objectivity of science became in Van Gogh’s hands an intense emotional language. The surface of the painting dances with particles of color—intense greens, blues, reds, and oranges. Dominating this dazzling array of staccato dots and dashes are the artist’s deep green eyes and the intensity of their gaze. “I prefer painting people’s eyes to cathedrals,” Van Gogh once wrote to Theo. “However solemn and imposing the latter may be—a human soul, be it that of a poor streetwalker, is more interesting to me.” From Paris, Van Gogh traveled to the southern town of Arles for fifteen months. At the time of his death, in 1890, he had actively pursued his art for only five years.

The intense colors and energetic brushwork of this self-portrait may hint at the artist's turbulent inner life, Vincent van Gogh suffered from bouts of depression and anxiety and came to painting after struggling to find professional footing as a pastor, teacher, and art dealer. In selecting the palette for this work, he followed Neo-Impressionist color theory, which held that color opposites, such as blue and yellow or red and green, create a vibrating optical effect when laid down next to each other. But what for other artists was a method based on the cool objectivity of science became in Van Gogh's hands an emotional language. Here, the blue-green of the background sets off the orange-red of the artist's hair and beard, bringing focus to his arresting expression.

* Note: I normally photograph paintings and their frames, but this particular photo had an issue, so you just get the gorgeous painting.

Vincent van Gogh (Dutch, 1853-1890), 1887.

Art Institite of Chicago (ARTIC 1954.326)

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Taken on: May 9, 2025
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Sets appears in:   • Art Institute of Chicago (ARTIC)    • Paintings   
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Camera: Canon EOS R7, f/5.6, 1/15 sec, 50mm, ISO 6400 (more info) (hide info)
Camera: Canon EOS R7
Lens: RF-S18-150mm F3.5-6.3 IS STM
Aperture: f/5.6
Exposure Time: 0.067 sec (1/15)
Focal Length: 50mm
ISO: 6400
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: No Flash
Exposure Program: Program AE
Exposure Mode: Auto
Metering Mode: Multi-segment
White Balance: Auto
Color Space: Uncalibrated
Software: Adobe Photoshop Camera Raw 17.3.1 (Macintosh)
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Self-portrait, Vincent van Gogh

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