Art of the Day
A week of van Gogh self-portraits

Vincent van Gogh (1853 – 1890)
Self-Portrait, 1889
Oil on canvas
Paris: Musée d’Orsay

Paintings have a life of their own that derives from the painter’s soul. — Vincent Van Gogh

This painting is one of the most famous self-portraits of all time.  I’ve always guessed that the swirls in the background say volumes about van Gogh’s mental state at the time.  After doing a bit of research, I found that this was one of the St. Remy paintings, composed while he was in the asylum.  Explains the critical eye cast upon himself, no?

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While van Gogh’s self-portraits say a lot about him and his perception of himself, so do his portraits of other people.  This painting is a good example.  It is of Dr. Gachet, van Gogh’s physician during his last years.  One of the last paintings by van Gogh, it was started and completed the month before his death.

There has always been a question of how competent Gachet was. Of Gachet, van Gogh wrote in a letter to his brother, Theo, that “First of all, he is sicker than I am, I think, or shall we say just as much”.  Perhaps that explains the sad look on his face.  He is watching one of his patients deteriate right before his own eyes and there is either little that he can do or perhaps he blames himself.

This portrait is also one of van Gogh’s most well known since it holds the record for being the most expensive painting ever sold at auction. In 1990, Doctor Gachet was sold within three minutes for $82.5 million to Ryoei Saito, Japan’s second-largest paper manufacturer.

Portrait of Doctor Gachet
June, 1890; Oil on canvas

Click on images for a larger view.