Self-portraits by Vincent van Gogh

Vincent van Gogh created many self-portraits during his lifetime. Most probably, Van Gogh's self portraits are depicting the face as it appeared in the mirror he used to reproduce his face, i.e. his right side in the image is in reality the left side of his face.

Paris

The first self-portrait by Van Gogh that survived, is dated 1886.

Arles

aint-Rémy

All Self-Portraits executed in Saint-Rémy show the artist's head from the left, i.e. the side with ear not mutilated.

Van Gogh painted "Self-Portrait without beard" just after he had shaved himself. The self-portrait is one of the most expensive paintings of all time, selling for $71.5 million in 1998 in New York. At the time, it was the third (or an inflation-adjusted fourth) most expensive painting ever sold.

Auvers-sur-Oise

No self-portraits were executed by Van Gogh in Auvers-sur-Oise, during the final weeks of his life.

Fakes

Almost at the same time as when his "Catalogue raisonné" was published, Jacob Baart de la Faille had to admit that he had included paintings emerging from dubious sources, and of dubious quality. Little later, in 1930, De la Faille rejected some thirty odd paintings, which he had originally included in his "Catalogue raisonné" - together with a hundred of others he had already excluded: "Self-portraits" - and "Sunflowers" - held a prominent place in the set he now rejected. In 1970, the editor's of De la Faille's posthumous manuscript brand marked most of these dubious "Self-portraits" as forgeries, [De la Faille 1970, nos. CHK] but could not settle all disputes, at least on one:

* The "Selfportrait 'a l'éstampe japonais"', then in the collection of William Goetz, Los Angeles, was included, though all editors refused its authenticity. [De la Faille 1970, no. 476a: inscribed "étude à la bougie"]

Meanwhile, the authenticity of a second "self-portrait" has been challenged:

* The "Selfportrait, 'à l'oreille mutilé"', acquired in 1910 for the Nasjonalgalleriet, Oslo, has been unanimously rejected by recent scholars and technical researchers since decades, until provenance research by staff members now reported "pro domo" the contrary. [Marit Ingeborg Lange: "The provenance of Vincent van Gogh's 'Self-portrait' in Oslo", Burlington Magazine CXLVIII/1235, February 2006, p.113-116] The debate is on-going.

Resources

Due to the considerable number of self-portraits by Van Gogh's, for a valid identification reference is to the numbers of Jacob Baart de la Faille's "Catalogue raisonné" (1928 & 1970) (F) or to Jan Hulsker's updated compilation (1978, revised 1989) (JH).

Notes

References

* Hammacher, A. M.: "Van Gogh: Selbstbildnisse", Philipp Reclam jun., Stuttgart 1960; 2nd edition 1970
* Van Lindert, Juleke, & Van Uitert, Evert: "Een eigentijdse expressie: Vincent van Gogh en zijn portretten", Meulenhoff/Landshoff, Amsterdam 1990 ISBN 90-290-8350-6
* Dorn, Roland: "Vincent, portraitiste: Bemerkungen zu ein paar heissen Eisen", in: Lukas Gloor, ed.: "Van Gogh echt falsch: Zwei Selbstbildnisse der Sammlung Emil Bührle", Zürich 2005, pp. 7 - 21