Self-Portrait
Vincent van Gogh (Dutch, 1853–1890)1887
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Materials & printing
Archival matte paper, 189 g/m² (10.3 mil), sourced from Japan, printed with multicolor water-based inkjet so every brushstroke stays crisp. Framed prints arrive ready to hang in a .75″ ayous-wood frame with an acrylite front. Sized to standard frames by cropping, never stretching — at most about 3% comes off one edge, which isn’t noticeable on most pieces, and we only offer a size when it stays that small.
Shipping & returns
Made to order and delivered in 5–8 business days (2–4 to print, 3–4 in transit). US shipping only for now. Because each print is made for your order, all sales are final — but if it arrives damaged or defective, send us a photo within 14 days and we’ll replace it free. Full policy.
Why is it this affordable?
A thin, flat margin on every piece — just enough to keep the store running. Most of what you pay is the print itself. We only sell sizes that reproduce at full quality, and we don’t mark up the large sizes the way most shops do.
About this work
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 was apparently inspired by the energy of the city and by his introduction to Impressionism, and he created at least twenty-four self-portraits during his two-year stay in the 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. 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.
Van Gogh’s career as a painter was actually very brief. From Paris, he traveled to the southern town of Arles for fi ft een months. At the time of his death, in 1890, he had actively pursued his art for just five years.
This is one of thirty-five works that comprise the Winterbotham Collection. Click here to learn more about the collection.
- Medium
- Oil on artist's board, mounted on cradled panel
- Original size
- 41 × 32.5 cm (16 1/8 × 12 13/16 in.)
Museum record · 1 owner · 29 exhibitions
Provenance
- The artist’s sister-in-law, Johanna van Gogh-Bonger (died 1925), Amsterdam; sold through Frankfurter Kunstverein to Leonhard Tietz (died 1914), Cologne, Feb. 1912; by descent to his son, Alfred Tietz, Cologne, 1914; sold to E. J. van Wisselingh and Co., Amsterdam, Dec. 12, 1933; sold to Étienne Bignou (Bignou Art Gallery), Paris, Dec. 31, 1933; transferred to Bignou Art Gallery, New York; sold to Joseph Winterbotham (died 1953), Burlington, Vermont by 1935; given to the Art Institute, 1954.
Exhibitions
- Cologne, Sonderbund Westdeutscher Kunstfreunde und Künstler, Internationale Kunstausstellung des Sonderbundes Westdeutscher Kunstfreunde und Künstler zu Cöln 1912, May 25–Se, 1912.
- Berlin, Galerie Paul Cassirer, 10.
- Ausstellung, May–June 1914.
- Frankfurt-am-Main, Galerie M. Goldschmidt, Vincent van Gogh, Mar. 15–Apr. 15, 1928.
- Berlin, Galerie Paul Cassirer, Vincent van Gogh: Gemälde, Jan. 1928.
- Amsterdam, Stedelijk Museum, Vincent van Gogh en zijn Tijdgenooten, Se.
- 2, 1930, ill. frontispiece.
- Amsterdam, E. J. van Wisselingh and Co., Exposition d’art française: Peinture du XIXme et Xxme siècle, Jan. 7–Feb. 4, 1933.
- Amsterdam, E. J. van Wisselingh and Co., Zomer Tentoonstelling van Hollandsche en Fransche Schilderkunst der XIXe en Xxe eeuw, July–Aug. 1933.
- New York, Museum of Modern Art, Vincent van Gogh, Nov. 5, 1935–Jan. 5, 1936.
- New York, Wildenstein and Co., Great Portraits from Impressionism to Modernism: a Loan Exhibition for the Benefit of the Public Education Association, Mar. 1–29, 1938.
- Boston, Museum of Fine Arts, Art in New England: Paintings, Drawings, Prints From Private Collections in New England, June 9–Se, 1939.
- New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, French Painting From David to Toulouse-Lautrec: Loans From French and American Museums and Collections, Feb. 6–Mar. 26, 1941.
- New York, Wildenstein and Co., The Art and Life of Vincent van Gogh: Loan Exhibition in Aid of American and Dutch War Relief, Oct. 6–Nov. 7, 1943.
- Cleveland, Museum of Art, Works by Vincent van Gogh, Nov. 3–Dec. 12, 1948.
- Chicago, Art Institute, Great French Painting: An Exhibition in Memory of Chauncey McCormick, Jan. 20–Feb. 20, 1955.
- Chicago, Art Institute, European Portraits 1600–1900 in The Art Institute of Chicago, July 8–Se, 1978.
- Paris, Musee d'Orsay, Vincent Van Gogh à Paris, Feb. 2-May 15, 1988.
- Detroit Institute of Art, Van Gogh: Face to Face, Mar. 12-June 4, 2000; Boston, Museum of Fine Arts, July 2-Se, 2000; Philadelphia Museum of Art, Oct. 22, 2000-Jan. 14, 2001.
- Art Institute, Van Gogh and Gauguin: The Studio of the South, Se, 2001-Jan. 13, 2002; Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum, Feb. 9-June 2, 2002.
- Toledo Museum of Art, Van Gogh: Fields, Feb. 23-May 18, 2003.
- Paris, Musée d'Orsay, Le Néo-Impressionnisme de Seurat á Paul Klee, Mar. 14- July 10, 2005.
- Fort Worth, TX, Kimbell Museum of Art, The Impressionists: Master Paintings from the Art Institute of Chicago, June 29–Nov. 2, 2008.
- Cologne, Wallraf-Richartz Museum, 1912 – Mission Moderne: Die Jahrhundertschau des Sonderbundes, Aug. 31– Dec. 30, 2012.
- Indianapolis Museum of Art, The Faces of Neo-Impressionism, June 13–Se, 2014.
- Art Institute of Chicago, Van Gogh's Bedrooms, Feb. 14 - May 10, 2016, no cat. no., plate 8.
- Frankfurt, Stadel Museum, Making Van Gogh, Oct. 23, 2019-Feb. 16, 2020.
- London, Courtauld Institute of Art, Van Gogh: Self-Portraits, Feb. 3-May 8, 2022.
- Art Institute of Chicago, Van Gogh and the Avant-Garde: The Modern Landscape, May 14-Se, 2023; Amsterdam, Van gogh Museum, Van Gogh Along the Seine, Oct. 13-Jan. 14, 2024.
