Portrait of an Old Woman
Vincent van Gogh (1853 - 1890), Antwerp, December 1885
oil on canvas, 50.5 cm x 39.8 cm
Credits (obliged to state): Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (Vincent van Gogh Foundation)
The old woman's grey hair sticks out from under her white cap. Van Gogh liked bonnets like this, which made a fine contrast with dark clothing and backgrounds. Using rough brushstrokes, Van Gogh suggested the shadows in her face.
In Antwerp (BE), Van Gogh wanted to master portrait painting. He heard from local art dealers that women's heads sold better than men's. From that time on, he focused on female models.
- F-number
- F0174
- JH-number
- JH0978
- Object number
- s0010V1962
- Dimensions
- 50.5 cm x 39.8 cm, 68.1 cm x 57.7 cm, 8.0 cm
- Provenance
- With his brother Theo van Gogh, Paris, after December 1885; after his death on 25 January 1891, inherited by his widow, Jo van Gogh-Bonger, and their son, Vincent Willem van Gogh, Paris; administered until her death on 2 September 1925 by Jo van Gogh-Bonger, Bussum/Amsterdam/Laren; transferred by Vincent Willem van Gogh, Laren, to the Vincent van Gogh Foundation, Amsterdam, 10 July 1962; agreement concluded between the Vincent van Gogh Foundation and the State of the Netherlands, in which the preservation and management of the collection, and its placing in the Rijksmuseum Vincent van Gogh, to be realized in Amsterdam, is entrusted to the State, 21 July 1962; given on loan until the opening of the museum on 2 June 1973 to the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; on permanent loan to the Rijksmuseum Vincent van Gogh from 2 June 1973 and at the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, since 1 July 1994.
- artist
- Vincent van Gogh
- Credits (obliged to state)
- Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (Vincent van Gogh Foundation)
Hiroshima, Hiroshima Prefectural Museum of Art, Van Gogh in Paris. New perspectives, 15 July-23 September 2013
Sendai, Miyagi Museum of Art, Van Gogh in Paris. New perspectives, 26 May-8 July 2013
Kyoto, Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art, Van Gogh in Paris. New perspectives, 30 March-19 May 2013
Seoul, Seoul Arts Center, Van Gogh in Paris. A dialogue with modernism, 4 November 2012-24 March 2013
Nagasaki, Huis ten Bosch (Japan), Van Gogh in Paris: New perspectives, 29 July-28 October 2012
Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum, Van Gogh in Antwerpen en Parijs: nieuwe inzichten, 22 June-18 September 2011
Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum, Van Goghs brieven. De kunstenaar aan het woord, 9 October 2009-3 January 2010
Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum, Van Gogh? Onderzoek naar twee vrouwenportretten, 31 October 2008-20 September 2009
Mons, Museum voor Schoone Kunsten, Van Gogh et la Belgique, 3 October-30 November 1980, no. 23
London, Hayward Gallery, Vincent van Gogh. Paintings and Drawings of the Vincent van Gogh Foundation Amsterdam, 23 October 1968-12 January 1969, no. 56
Seattle, Seattle Art Museum, Vincent van Gogh. Paintings and Drawings, 7 March-19 April 1959, no. 14
Portland (Oregon), Portland Art Museum (Oregon), Vincent van Gogh. Paintings and Drawings, 28 January-1 March 1959, no. 14
Los Angeles, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Vincent van Gogh. Paintings and Drawings, 10 December 1958-18 January 1959, no. 14
San Francisco, M.H. de Young Memorial Museum, Vincent van Gogh. Paintings and Drawings, 6 October-30 November 1958, no. 14
Amsterdam, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, Vincent van Gogh, 24 June-September 1955, no. 63
Antwerp, Zaal Comité voor Artistieke Werking, Vincent van Gogh, 7 May-19 June 1955, no. 124
The Hague, Gemeentemuseum Den Haag, Vincent van Gogh. Collectie ir. V.W. van Gogh, 12 October 1948-10 January 1949, no. 38
Groningen, Museum van Oudheden, Vincent van Gogh, 18 October-16 November 1947, no. 17
Vienna, Neue Galerie, Vincent van Gogh. Gemälde, 5 May-17 June 1928, no. 5
Frankfurt am Main, Galerie M. Goldschmidt, Vincent van Gogh. Gemälde, 15 March-15 April 1928, no. 5
Berlin, Kunstsalon Paul Cassirer, Vincent van Gogh. Gemälde, 15 January-1 March 1928, no. 9
Lanfear, Ibby, An investigation into the use, fading and surface deterioration of red lake pigments in the works of Van Gogh, focusing on six paintings from his Antwerp and Paris periods., p. 27-34