The Paper's reporter Lu Linhan reported comprehensively
The Post-Impressionist painter Vincent van Gogh was a prolific practitioner of self-portraiture, with well-defined facial features, bright red hair, and a piercing gaze. From February 3, the Cottower Gallery in London, UK, will present the exhibition "Van Gogh Self-Portrait". The exhibition is also the first time that the museum has featured Van Gogh's self-portraits, presenting more than 15 van Gogh self-portraits, as a way to trace the transformation of his painting expressiveness.
It is understood that Van Gogh created a number of self-portraits between 1885 and 1889, and 35 paintings with specific provenance can now be found. These paintings show van Gogh's anger, madness, melancholy, and happiness as we see.
The Exhibition "Van Gogh's Self-Portraits" at the Kotoude Gallery will bring together nearly half of van Gogh's self-portraits created during his brief years. From "Self-Portrait in a Dark Felt Hat" created in Paris in 1886 to "Self-Portrait" with a color palette, and Van Gogh's painting in the Saint-Rémy Psychiatric Hospital in Provence in September 1889, this traces the evolution of Van Gogh's self-portrait. This also includes the Kotoude Museum's own collection of masterpieces, "Self-Portrait with Bandages Around the Ears", which is also the turning point of his self-portrait.
Karen Serres, curator of the exhibition and director of Kotod's painting department, said that self-portraits are one of Van Gogh's most enduring themes, and the exhibition hopes to use this as a breakthrough to explore how Van Gogh constructed his identity through self-portraits and showed himself to the outside world.
Van Gogh, Self-Portrait with Dark Felt Hat, 1886-1887, collection of the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam
Most of Van Gogh's early self-portraits were completed in Paris, except for the last one in early 1887, which was completed in 1886. At this time, Van Gogh had not yet been influenced by the Impressionist school, and the overall tone of the painting was still relatively deep, giving people a depressing feeling. At this time, he was indeed in a more melancholy stage. Because of the extraction of teeth, Van Gogh grew a beard to cover up the defects in his cheeks.
Van Gogh, Self-Portrait with Straw Hat, 1887, Collection of the Detroit Museum of Art
This Self-Portrait in a Straw Hat was completed in 1887. At this time, Van Gogh began to be influenced by the Impressionists, and the colors of the paintings became brighter. Unlike the clothing of the middle class before him, Van Gogh shows himself in his self-portrait as a peasant wearing a straw hat, showing his yearning for rural life. In the paintings, the bright blue, green and yellow backgrounds depict the rural environment, and the costumes in the paintings are also depicted by Van Gogh when he painted peasants before.
Brahtaka, Self-Portrait-with-Grey-Felt-Hat, 1853-1890
The work was completed in 1887. Van Gogh used the technique of dot color - based on the various monochromatic lights in the spectrum to form the color of all things, and drew them with simple primary color pigment dots. At that time, Van Gogh had close contact with some Impressionists in Paris, and this method of painting became a technique used in his paintings.
Self-Portrait as a Painter before Van Gogh leaves Paris, 1888
This work is the last self-portrait van Gogh made before leaving Paris. During his time in Paris, van Gogh's paintings were brighter overall due to their constant contact with the French contemporary art movement. This painting is in the traditional form of a painter's self-portrait, standing in front of the drawing board, holding a palette in his hand, and when he is finished he signs the back of the painting. It was his oath to his profession. At the same time, Van Gogh in the painting is wearing the blue coat of a blue collarless craftsman, indicating his class identity.
Van Gogh, Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear, 1889, Collection of the Kotoude Museum
The Self-Portrait with Bandages Around The Ear is probably the most famous of all of Van Gogh's works. In 1888, Van Gogh invited Gauguin to live with him in Arles. However, two stubborn artists often quarreled together. Vincent cut off his ears in insanity, which became the most astonishing act of self-harm in art history. The surface of the painting is very calm, but the melancholy eyes, skeletal cheeks, and the bandages on the head still give people a strong visual impact.
Van Gogh, Self-Portrait, Saint-Rémy Period
In May 1889, Van Gogh came to the Saint-Rémy Hospital for treatment. During this period, he also painted two self-portraits. He himself saw the second as a sign of his own sanity, and he was anxious to leave the hospital and return to the painter community. The painting is dominated by blue, with a mixture of gray and green in the background, and the spiral brushstrokes are the symbol of his high spirit, but at the same time, his eyes are extremely firm.
Five things about Van Gogh's self-portrait
One
Vincent van Gogh has more than 35 self-portraits, while only one surviving portrait of Van Gogh was taken at the age of 19. In the photo, his expression is slightly blunt, and almost everything we do about his appearance comes from his self-portrait.
Of these self-portraits, 35 are well known. From these paintings we know that he had red hair, green eyes, and an angular face. And every face he writes is different. Van Gogh himself wrote: "I like to believe what people say – it's hard to know yourself, but it's not easy to draw yourself either. ”
Portrait of Van Gogh by the artist Archibald Standish Harrick
Van Gogh and Emile Bernard on the Seine near Paris, 1886
Two
Van Gogh's self-portraits were not his vanity. He created self-portraits because he wanted to practice drawing figures. Most of these self-portraits were painted in Paris (1886-88) after he was 25 years old. During that time, he was short of money and difficult to find models, so he chose the simplest solution - to paint himself.
Three
These self-portraits tell us something about Van Gogh's personality, and he often shows a restrained and serious focus in his self-portraits. Nevertheless, in each self-portrait we can also find its unique personality. He called his last painting in Paris "unkempt and sad ... Like, say, the face of death. That's how he felt at the time — physically and mentally exhausted.
Portrait of Van Gogh by the French post-impressionist artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, 1887
Four
Three self-portraits hint at Van Gogh's pathology. On December 23, 1888, Van Gogh cut off his left ear in a state of mental confusion, the first in a series of events in which he had a nervous breakdown. Although Van Gogh was reluctant to discuss the matter in his letter, he did "report" on the incident with two self-portraits. Van Gogh did not portray himself as a sick, broken man in order to draw mercy. He firmly believed that painting would help him recover. In a letter to his brother Theo, he wrote, "I keep all my good hopes."
Medaka, Self-Portrait, 1889
Five
Self-portraits shape our understanding of Van Gogh's figures. The self-portrait also closely connects this tortured genius with a yellow straw hat and golden sunlight. These self-portraits have been copied countless times since the beginning of the 20th century. At the same time, many artists draw inspiration from his self-portraits.
The French artist Guillaume Bruère often admired Van Gogh's work. In September 2019, he painted a series of paintings at the Van Gogh Museum.
The exhibition "Van Gogh's Self-Portrait" will be on display on February 3.
(This article is synthesized from the Kotoude Museum, the Van Gogh Museum and the Internet)
Editor-in-Charge: Weihua Gu