Head of a Prostitute
Vincent van Gogh (1853 - 1890), Antwerp, December 1885
oil on canvas, 35.2 cm x 24.4 cm
Credits (obliged to state): Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (Vincent van Gogh Foundation)
By choosing this contemporary subject, Van Gogh presented himself as a modern painter of city life. That included the margins of society and the prostitutes who lived there.
This woman may not look like a prostitute at first glance. But in the nineteenth century, loose hair was a sign of loose morals. Van Gogh used rough brushstrokes to paint her face. He succeeded in giving her features volume and life.
- F-number
- F0206
- JH-number
- JH0972
- Object number
- s0059V1962
- Dimensions
- 35.2 cm x 24.4 cm, 52.9 cm x 41.9 cm
- Provenance
- With his brother Theo van Gogh, Paris, after December 1885; after Theo’s 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; donated by Vincent Willem van Gogh on 11 March 1952 to the (1st) Vincent van Gogh Foundation, Laren; transferred on 28 December 1960 by the (1st) Vincent van Gogh Foundation to the Theo van Gogh Foundation, Laren; agreement concluded on 21 July 1962 between the (2nd) Vincent van Gogh Foundation, Amsterdam, 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; donated on 21 July 1962 by the Theo van Gogh Foundation to the Vincent van Gogh Foundation; 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)
Frans Hals Museum, Frans Hals en de Modernen, 13 October 2018 - 24 February 2019
Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum, Lichte zeden. Prostitutie in de Franse kunst, 1850-1910, 19 February 2016 - 19 June 2016
Paris, Musée d'Orsay, Splendeurs et misères. Images de la prostitution, 1850-1910, 22 September 2015 - 17 January 2016
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Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum, Van Gogh en Rembrandt, 24 February 2006 - 28 June 2006
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Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum, Vincents smaak, 14 February 2003 - 15 June 2003
Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum, Van Gogh tot op de micrometer. Presentatie van het technisch onderzoek naar enkele schilderijen van Van Gogh, 3 May 2002 - 2 February 2003
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Van Gogh's Van Goghs. Masterpieces from the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, 17 January 1999 - 16 May 1999, no. 13
National Gallery of Art, Van Gogh's Van Goghs. Masterpieces from the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, 4 October 1998 - 3 January 1999, no. 13
Tokyo, Seiji Togo Memorial Yasuda Kasai Museum of Art, Vincent van Gogh and his time. Van Gogh & portraits from the Van Gogh Museum and the H.W. Mesdag Museum, 14 September 1994 - 13 November 1994, no. 1
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Mons, Museum voor Schoone Kunsten, Van Gogh et la Belgique, 3 October 1980 - 30 November 1980, no. 24
Antwerp, Koninklijke Academie voor Schone Kunsten (Antwerpen), Uitstraling van de Koninklijke Academie voor Schone Kunsten te Antwerpen 1863-1914, 9 September 1963 - 31 December 1963, no. 39
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Östersund, Konstmuseet, Vincent van Gogh. Akvareller, teckningar, oljestudier, brev, 8 February 1958 - 23 February 1958
Umeå, Länsmuseet, Vincent van Gogh. Akvareller, teckningar, oljestudier, brev, 18 January 1958 - 2 February 1958
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Liverpool, Walker Art Gallery, Vincent van Gogh. Paintings & drawings, mainly from the collection of Ir. V.W. van Gogh, 29 October 1955 - 10 December 1955, no. 10
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hoofdred.: Marrigje Rikken, José Rozenbroek, Frans Hals ontmoet Singer Sargent, Van Gogh en Manet : op bedevaart naar Haarlem: geniale 19e-eeuwse kunstenaars in de ban van hun idool, [2018], p. 67, 105
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par Jean Leymarie, Van Gogh, [1951], p. 88, 98
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