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Self-portrait

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 Details
Oil on cardboard
42.0 x 33.7 cm.
Paris: Spring, 1887
F 345, JH 1249

Chicago: The Art Institute of Chicago
History
Provenance
Exhibitions
Analysis
See below


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Vincent van Gogh's Self-Portrait, shown above, is typical of many of his works produced while living with his brother, Theo, in Paris in 1887. In his book The New Complete Van Gogh: Paintings, Drawings, Sketches Jan Hulsker comments:
". . . . one is struck by the profusion of red and blue dots swarming over the dark green background and by the manner in which the reddish brown of the jacket is rendered in a kind of mosaic of dark blue-green, orange-red, and yellow dots. The bright red beard and yellow-brown hair have been built up from separate brushstrokes in forceful colors, and Vincent has left touches of unmixed complementary green in the eyebrows, hair and beard."
It's difficult to speculate on what Van Gogh himself thought of this work. Vincent often discussed in great detail on many of his own works through his letters to Theo; however, during the time that Vincent actually lived with Theo the letters, naturally enough, stopped. Still, one can comment on the interesting technique employed in this work. Note the Pointillist style Vincent employs--typical of a number of his paintings at this specific stage in his career as an artist. During his time in Paris Vincent became familiar with many of the Impressionist artists of the day--men who were struggling with new ways of expressing themselves through art. Georges Seurat was one of the many painters Vincent came to know. Seurat's unusual Pointillist style had a distinctive and positive influence on Van Gogh's works at the time, but soon Vincent would discover a style uniquely his own.


Provenance

Owner City Country Date acquired Comments
Johanna van Gogh-Bonger Amsterdam Netherlands 1890  
Kunstverein Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt Germany February, 1912  
Leonard Tietz Cologne Germany 1912  
A. Tietz Cologne Germany 1930  
Van Wisselingh Art Gallery Amsterdam Netherlands  
  
Bignou Art Gallery Paris France 1933
Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Winterbotham Burlington, Vermont United States  
  
Art Institute of Chicago Chicago United States 1954 Bequest of Joseph Winterbotham.


Exhibitions

Year City Country Venue Exhibition Name Start Date End Date No.
1912 Cologne Germany Städtische Ausstellungshalle am Aachener Tor Internationale Kunstausstellung des Sonderbundes Westdeutscher Kunstfreunde und Künstler zu Köln 25 May 1912 30 September 1912 11
1914 Berlin (1) Germany Paul Cassirer Vincent van Gogh 30 März 1853-29 July 1890. Zehnte Ausstellung 1 June 1914 5 July 1914 28
1928 Berlin Germany Paul Cassirer Vincent van Gogh. Gemälde 15 January 1928 1 March 1928 29
1928 Frankfurt Germany Galerie Goldschmidt Vincent van Gogh. Gemälde 15 March 1928 15 April 1928 18
1930 Amsterdam Netherlands Stedelijk Museum Vincent van Gogh en zijn tijdgenooten 6 September 1930 2 November 1930 25
1933 Amsterdam (3) Netherlands E.J. van Wisselingh & Co. Hollandsche en Fransche schilderkunst der XIX en XX eeuw 27 March 1933 5 May 1933 13
1935-36 New York United States Museum of Modern Art Vincent van Gogh 5 November 1935 5 January 1936 20
1936 Philadelphia United States Philadelphia Museum of Art Vincent van Gogh 11 January 1936 10 February 1936 20
1936 Boston United States Museum of Fine Arts Vincent van Gogh 19 February 1936 15 March 1936 20
1936 Cleveland (1) United States Cleveland Museum of Art Vincent van Gogh 25 March 1936 19 April 1936 20
1936 San Francisco United States California Palace of the Legion of Honor Vincent van Gogh 28 April 1936 24 May 1936 20
1936 Kansas City United States William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Atkins Museum Vincent van Gogh 9 June 1936 10 July 1936 20
1936 Minneapolis United States Minneapolis Institute of Arts Vincent van Gogh 20 July 1936 17 August 1936 20
1936 Chicago United States Art Institute of Chicago Vincent van Gogh 26 August 1936 23 September 1936 20
1936 Detroit United States Detroit Institute of Arts Vincent van Gogh 6 October 1936 28 October 1936 20
1938 New York (2) United States Wildenstein and Co. Great Portraits from Impressionism to Modernism 1 March 1938 29 March 1938 45
1939 Boston United States Museum of Fine Arts Paintings, Drawings and Prints from Private Collections in New England 9 June 1939 10 September 1939 53
1941 New York United States Metropolitan Museum of Art Aspects of French Painting from David to Toulouse-Lautrec 6 February 1941 26 March 1941 64 A
1943 New York (2) United States Wildenstein and Co. The Art and Life of Vincent van Gogh. Loan Exhibition in Aid of American and Dutch War Relief 6 October 1943 7 November 1943 22
1948 Cleveland United States Cleveland Museum of Art Vincent van Gogh 3 November 1948 12 December 1948 4
1955 Chicago United States Art Institute of Chicago Great French paintings, an Exhibition in Memory of Chauncey McCormick 20 January 1955 20 February 1955 20
1988 Paris (1) France Musée d'Orsay Van Gogh à Paris 2 February 1988 15 May 1988  
2000 Detroit United States Detroit Institute of Arts Van Gogh: Face to Face 12 March 2000 4 June 2000  
2000 Boston United States Museum of Fine Arts Van Gogh: Face to Face 2 July 2000 24 September 2000
2000-01 Philadelphia United States Philadelphia Museum of Art Van Gogh: Face to Face 22 October 2000 14 January 2001  
2001-02 Chicago United States Art Institute of Chicago Van Gogh and Gauguin: The Studio of the South 22 September 2001 13 January 2002 19
2003 Toledo United States Toledo Museum of Art Van Gogh: Fields 23 February 2003 18 May 2003 1
2005 Paris France Musée d'Orsay Le Néo-Impressionnisme, de Seurat à Paul Klee 15 March 2005 10 July 2005  
2008 Fort Worth United States Kimbell Art Museum The Impressionists: Master Paintings from the Art Institute of Chicago 29 June 2008 2 November 2008  

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