Vincent van Gogh painted 36 self-portraits. This was one of his last. Made at the asylum of Saint-Paul-de-Mausole in Saint-Rémy, where the artist was recovering from a severe breakdown, it is intense in every way. The swirling brushstrokes around his head are dynamic, the blues and violets of his smock are electric, and his narrowed gaze is unwavering. The artist’s bright orange hair and rust-colored beard accentuate his sallow skin and add to his gaunt appearance. Still working despite his illness, Van Gogh keeps a tight grip on his brushes and palette.
Artwork overview
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Medium
oil on canvas
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Credit Line
-
Dimensions
overall: 57.79 × 44.5 cm (22 3/4 × 17 1/2 in.)
framed: 77.5 × 63.7 × 6.7 cm (30 1/2 × 25 1/16 × 2 5/8 in.) -
Accession Number
1998.74.5
More About this Artwork
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Artwork history & notes
Provenance
Joseph Jacob Isaacson [1859-1942], The Hague. (H.P. Bremmer, The Hague); Hugo Tutein Nolthenius [1863-1944], Delft, by 1904;[1] by inheritance to his brother, Jacques Tutein Nolthenius; on consignment with (Katz Gallery, Basel, Switzerland), probably by 1945;[2] on consignment with (M. Knoedler & Co., New York, no. 2845); sold 9 June 1947 to Mr. and Mrs. John Hay Whitney, New York;[3] gift 1998 to NGA.
[1] According to J.-B. de la Faille, The Works of Vincent van Gogh: His Paintings and Drawings, rev. ed., Amsterdam, 1970: F626, the painting was lent by Nolthenius to a 1904 exhibition in Rotterdam. Thea Sternheim, wife of the German playwright Carl Sternheim, writes in her diary that they saw the portrait on exhibition in Rotterdam in 1910, lent by Tutein Nolthenius. Nolthenius' collection was dispersed by his heirs following his death in 1944. An appraisal of the collection dated February 1944 included the Self Portrait with the annotation "sold" (copy, documentation center, van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam)
[2] Knoedler had the painting on consignment from the Katz Gallery when it was sold to Whitney in April 1947 (see Commission Book #4, M. Knoedler & Co Records, Getty Research Institute, copy NGA curatorial files). Katz is probably the "private collection" which lent the painting to a 1945 exhibition at the Galerie Schulthess, Basel and a 1946 exhibition at the Kunsthalle Bern.
[3] Acquisition date and source according to Whitney records in NGA curatorial files.
Associated Names
Exhibition History
1904
Vincent van Gogh, Kunstzalen Oldenzeel, Rotterdam, 1904, no. 70.
1905
Vincent van Gogh, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, 1905, no. 195.
1906
Vincent van Gogh, Kunstzalen Oldenzeel, Rotterdam, 1906, no. 46.
1910
Vincent van Gogh, Rotterdamsch Kunstkring, 11 June - 10 July 1910, no. 33.
1912
Sonderbund Ausstellung, Cologne, 1912, no. 86, repro.
1927
Kersttentoonstelling, Museum Boymans, Rotterdam, 1927-1928, no. 34, repro.
1929
Exhibition of Dutch Art 1450-1900, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1929, no. 466.
1930
Vincent Van Gogh en zijn tijdgenooten, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, 1930, no. 80.
1941
Exhibition of Tutein Nolthenius collection, Museum Paul Tetar van Elven, Delft, 1941.
1945
Vincent van Gogh, 25 Werke, Hollandhilfe, Galerie Schulthess, Basel, 1945, no. 12.
1946
Ecole de Paris, Kunsthalle Bern, 1946.
1948
21 Masterpieces by 7 Great Masters, Benefit for the Public Education Association, Paul Rosenberg Gallery, New York, November - December 1948, no. 12, repro.
Vincent van Gogh 14 Masterpieces, M. Knoedler & Co., New York, March - April 1948, no. 14.
1949
Van Gogh: Paintings and Drawings, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Art Institute of Chicago, 1949-1950, no. 119, as Portrait of the Artist, repro.
1951
Selections from Five New York Private Collections, Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1951, unnumbered catalogue.
1955
Paintings from Private Collections, Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1955, unnumbered catalogue.
1960
The John Hay Whitney Collection, Tate Gallery, London, 1960-1961, no. 32, repro.
1983
The John Hay Whitney Collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1983, no. 25, repro.
1986
Van Gogh in Saint-Rémy and Auvers, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1986-1987, no. 22, repro.
1990
Vincent van Gogh, Rijksmuseum Vincent van Gogh, Amsterdam, 1990, no. 99, repro., as Self-Portrait with Palette.
1998
Gifts to the Nation from Mr. and Mrs. John Hay Whitney, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1998-1999, no cat.
2000
Art for the Nation: Collecting for a New Century, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 2000-2001, unnumbered catalogue, repro.
Van Gogh Face to Face: The Portraits, The Detroit Institute of Arts; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2000-2001, no. 169, repro. (shown only in Boston).
2001
Van Gogh and Gauguin: The Studio of the South, The Art Institute of Chicago; Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, 2001-2002, no. 119, repro. (shown only in Chicago; incorrect credit line and accession no. in exh. cat.).
2004
Van Gogh and Gauguin: An Artistic Dialogue in the South of France, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, 2004, no cat.
2007
Van Gogh and Expressionism, Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam; Neue Galerie New York, 2006-2007, unnumbered catalogue, pl. 70 (shown only in New York).
2010
Loan to display with permanent collection, Norton Gallery and School of Art, West Palm Beach, 2010-2011.
2011
Impressionist and Post-Impressionist Masterpieces from the National Gallery of Art, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; The National Art Center, Tokyo; Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art, 2011, no. 20, repro.
2012
Loan to display with permanent collection, Norton Simon Museum, Pasadena, 2012-2013.
2014
Van Gogh/Artaud. Le suicidé de la société, Musée d'Orsay, Paris, 2014, no. 13, repro.
2016
Van Gogh's Bedrooms, The Art Institute of Chicago, 2016, pl. 26.
2019
Van Gogh and Britain, Tate, London, 2019, unnumbered catalogue, repro.
2022
Van Gogh. Self-Portraits, The Courtauld Gallery, Courtauld Institute of Art, London, 2022, no. 16, repro.
Bibliography
1903
Bremmer, H. P., ed. Moderne Kunstwerken. Schilderijen, teekeningen en beeldhouwwerken 1, no. 6 (1903): pl. 45 “Eigendom van den heer H. Tutein Nolthenius te Delft.”
1922
Huebner, F.M. Moderne Kunst in den Privatsammlungen Europas. Holland.. Leipzig, 1922: 51-52.
1928
Faille, J.-B. de la. L'Oeuvre de Vincent Van Gogh, catalogue raisonné. 4 vols. Paris and Brussels, 1928: 1:no. 626; 2:repro.
1929
Scherjon, W. De Zelfportretten van Vinvent van Gogh Uit St. Remy. Utrecht, 1929:10, repro.
1930
Douwes, W.F. Vincent van Gogh. Amsterdam, c. 1930:54, repro. frontispiece.
1932
Scherjon, W. Catalogue des Tableaux par Vincent can Gogh décrits dans des lettres. Utrecht, 1932: 40, repro.
1937
Scherjon, W., and Jos. de Gruyter. Vincent van Gogh's Great Period: Arles, St. Rémy and Auvers sur Oise (Complete Catalogue). Amsterdam, 1937: 230, no. 28, repro.
1939
Faille, J.-B. de la. Vincent Van Gogh. New York and Paris, 1939: 431, no. 626, repro.
1945
Goldscheider, Ludwig, and Wilhelm Uhde. Vincent van Gogh. Oxford, London and New York, 1945: no. 72, repro.
1946
Schmalenbach, Fritz. "Brief uit Zwitzerland." Phoenix 1, no. 4 (1946): 24, repro.
1950
Schapiro, Meyer. Vincent van Gogh. New York, 1950: 102, repro.
1951
McBride, Henry. "Rockefeller, Whitney, Senior, Odets, Colin." Art News 50 (June-July-August 1951): 36, repro.
Schapiro, Meyer. Vincent Van Gogh. London, 1951: 102, repro.
1954
Bromig-Kolleritz, Katharina. Die Selbstbildnisse Vincent van Goghs. Ph.D. diss. Ludwig-Maxmilians-Universität, Munich, 1954: 21-22, 113.
1956
Rewald, John. "French Paintings in the collection of Mr. and Mrs. John Hay Whitney." The Connoisseur 134, no. 552 (April 1956): 136, repro.
1960
Hammacher, Abraham Marie. Vincent van Gogh Selbstbildnisse. Stuttgart, 1960: 18-19, repro.
1963
Erpel, Fritz. Die Selbstbildnisse Vincent van Goghs. Berlin, 1963: no. 41, repro.
1970
Faille, J.-B. de la. The Works of Vincent van Gogh: Paintings and Drawings. Amsterdam, 1970: no. F626, repro.
1978
The Complete Letters of Vincent van Gogh. 3 vols. London, 1978: 3:201-202, 458.
1980
Hulsker, Jan. The Complete Van Gogh: Paintings, drawings, sketches. New York, 1980: 404-406, no. 1770, repro.
1994
Walther, Ingo F., and Rainer Metzger. Vincent van Gogh: Sämtliche Gemälde. 2 vols. Cologne, 1994: 2:534.
1995
Sternheim, Thea. Tagebücher 1905-1927. Die Jahre mit Carl Sternhaim. Mainz, 1995: 45-46.
1997
Zemel, Carol. Van Gogh's Progress: Utopia, Modernity, and Late-Nineteenth-Century Art. Berkeley, Los Angeles and London, 1997: 165-167, repro.
2000
Shackelford, George T.M. Vincent van Gogh: The Painter and the Portrait. New York, 2000: 54, repro.
2004
Hand, John Oliver. National Gallery of Art: Master Paintings from the Collection. Washington and New York, 2004: 370-371, no. 304, color repro.
2006
Feilchenfeldt, Walter. By Appointment Only. London and New York, 2006: 115, repro.
Balk, Hildelies. De Kunstpaus: H.P. Bremmer 1871-1956. Bossum, 2006: 389.
2014
Van Gogh/Artaud: le suicidé de la société. Exh. cat. Musée d'Orsay. Paris, 2014: 86, repro. 87.
Brega, Matteo G. “Verso la deflagrazione: Van Gogh e Artaud a Parigi.” Art e dossier 29 (2014): 50.
Guzzoni, Mariella. Van Gogh: l’infinito specchio. Il problema dell’autoritratto e della firma in Vincent. Milan, 2014: repro. 140, 142, pl. 38.
2015
Mullins, Edwin. Van Gogh: The Asylum Year. London, 2015: repro. 78.
Wikidata ID
Q9162658