Vincent van Gogh
Paris, December 1886-January 1887
Oil paint on Canvas
This is one of Vincent van Gogh’s earliest self-portraits. He only started painting self-portraits after his arrival in Paris in late February 1886, six years after deciding to become an artist. Influenced by the avant-garde painters he met there, especially those associated with Impressionism, he began experimenting with different ways of using light. In this work, a strong beam falls on one side of his face while the deep shadows on the other side are rendered in hues of pink and green.
The matte effect of the surface recalls peinture à l’essence (paint drained of most of its oil and thinned with turpentine), favoured by Edgar Degas and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, whom Van Gogh knew well.