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
Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum, Van Gogh aan het werk, 1 May 2013 - 12 January 2014
Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum, Van Gogh in Antwerpen en Parijs: nieuwe inzichten, 22 June 2011 - 18 September 2011
Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum, Rembrandt-Caravaggio, 28 February 2006 - 18 June 2006
Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum, Van Gogh en Rembrandt, 24 February 2006 - 28 June 2006
Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum, De keuze van Vincent. Van Goghs Musée imaginaire, 14 February 2003 - 15 June 2003, no. 121
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
Nagoya, Nagoya City Art Museum, Vincent van Gogh exhibition, 21 December 1985 - 2 February 1986, no. 19
Tokyo, National Museum of Western Art (Tokyo), Vincent van Gogh exhibition, 12 October 1985 - 8 December 1985, no. 19
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
Gothenburg, Göteborgs Konsthallen, Vincent van Gogh. Akvareller, teckningar, oljestudier, brev, 15 March 1958 - 30 March 1958
Sandviken, Konsthallen, Vincent van Gogh. Akvareller, teckningar, oljestudier, brev, 27 February 1958 - 11 March 1958
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
Kiruna, Norrmalmsskolan, Vincent van Gogh. Akvareller, teckningar, oljestudier, brev, 29 December 1957 - 13 January 1958
Luleå, Shopping, Vincent van Gogh. Akvareller, teckningar, oljestudier, brev, 4 December 1957 - 19 December 1957
Stockholm, Nationalmuseum, Vincent van Gogh. Akvareller, teckningar, oljestudier, brev, 5 October 1957 - 22 November 1957, no. 104
Newcastle upon Tyne, Laing Art Gallery, Vincent van Gogh. Paintings & drawings, mainly from the collection of Ir. V.W. van Gogh, 11 February 1956 - 24 March 1956, no. 10
Manchester (England), Manchester City Art Gallery, Vincent van Gogh. Paintings & drawings, mainly from the collection of Ir. V.W. van Gogh, 17 December 1955 - 4 February 1956, no. 10
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
Amsterdam, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, Vincent van Gogh, 24 June 1955 - 1 September 1955, no. 57
Antwerp, Zaal Comité voor Artistieke Werking, Vincent van Gogh, 7 May 1955 - 19 June 1955, no. 118
Kunstmuseum Bern, Vincent van Gogh, 27 November 1954 - 30 January 1955, no. 12
Kunsthaus Zürich, Vincent van Gogh, 9 October 1954 - 21 November 1954, no. 11
Toledo (Ohio), Toledo Museum of Art, Vincent van Gogh 1853-1890, 7 March 1954 - 30 April 1954, no. 55
Philadelphia (Pennsylvania), Philadelphia Museum of Art, Vincent van Gogh 1853-1890, 2 January 1954 - 28 February 1954, no. 55
Saint Louis, City Art Museum of Saint Louis, Vincent van Gogh 1853-1890, 17 October 1953 - 13 December 1953, no. 55
Amsterdam, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, Eeuwfeest Vincent van Gogh, 23 July 1953 - 20 September 1953, no. 49
Kröller-Müller Museum, Eeuwfeest Vincent van Gogh, 24 May 1953 - 19 July 1953, no. 49
The Hague, Gemeentemuseum Den Haag, Vincent van Gogh, 30 March 1953 - 17 May 1953, no. 47
The Hague, Gemeentemuseum Den Haag, Vincent van Gogh. Collectie ir. V.W. van Gogh, 12 October 1948 - 10 January 1949, no. 33
Kunstnernes Hus, Vincent van Gogh, 24 April 1948 - 15 May 1948, no. 8
Bergen (Norway), Kunstforening, Vincent van Gogh, 23 March 1948 - 18 April 1948, no. 8
Groningen, Museum van Oudheden, Vincent van Gogh, 18 October 1947 - 16 November 1947, no. 18
Jan Hulsker, The complete Van Gogh : paintings, drawings, sketches, 1980, p. 213-214
Richard Thomson, Nienke Bakker, Isolde Pludermacher ... [et al.], Easy virtue : prostitution in French art 1850-1910, 2016, p. 110
Ella Hendriks, C. Richard Johnson jr., Luuk van der Loeff ... [et al.], First international workshop on image processing for artist identification, 2007, p. 32, 42
Ed.dir.: Marrigje Rikken, José Rozenbroek, Frans Hals meet Singer Sargent, Van Gogh and Manet : on pilgrimage to Haarlem: ingenious 19th-century artists under the spell of their idol, [2018], p. 67, 105
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
Hidden treasures : impressionist and modern masterpieces from an important private collection, 2019, p. 132
Walther Vanbeselaere ; met een woord vooraf door August Vermeylen, De hollandsche periode (1880-1885) in het werk van Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890), 1937, p. 541
Carel Blotkamp, De Hollandse toets : chauvinistische notities, p. 35
Richard R. Brettell ; [ed. by Jane Havell], Impression : painting quickly in France 1860-1890, 2000, p. 224
Richard R. Brettel ; [red. Jane Havell], Impressionisme : de vrijheid van de losse toets, 2000, p. 224
Richard Thomson, Nienke Bakker, Isolde Pludermacher ... [et al.], Lichte zeden : prostitutie in de Franse kunst 1850-1910, 2016, p. 110, 178
Text: Esther Darley, Renske Suijver, Masterpieces in the Van Gogh Museum, 2019, p. 56
Tekst: Esther Darley, Renske Suijver, Meesterwerken in het Van Gogh Museum, 2019, p. 56
Jan Hulsker, The new complete Van Gogh : paintings, drawings, sketches, 1996, p. 213, 216
Nienke Bakker, Leo Jansen, Hans Luijten ... [et al.], The real van Gogh : the artist and his letters, 2010, p. 96
Matthias Krüger, Das relief der farbe : Pastose Malerei in der französischen Kunstkritik 1850-1890, 2007, p. 109, 154
Ed. by E. van Uitert and M. Hoyle; with contrib. from H. van Crimpen ... [et al.], The Rijksmuseum Vincent van Gogh, 1987, p. 323
Translation Ivonne Paternotte-Limburg, Rijksmuseum Vincent van Gogh Amsterdam : guide to the collection of paintings, 1979, [unpaged]
Richard Thomson, Gabrielle Houbre, Nienke Bakker ... [et al.], Splendeurs & misères : images of prostitution in France, 1850-1910, 2015, p. 125, 128-129, 287
Woord vooraf W. Vanbeselaere, Uitstraling van de Koninklijke Academie voor Schone Kunsten Antwerpen 1863-1914, 1963
par Jean Leymarie, Van Gogh, [1951], p. 88, 98
Ella Hendriks and Muriel Geldof, Van Gogh's Antwerp and Paris picture supports (1885-1888) reconstructing choices, p. 46, 53, 68, 73
Ed. by Marije Vellekoop, Ella Hendriks, Leo Jansen ... [et al.] ; Teio Meedendorp, Nienke Bakker, Maite van Dijk ... [et al.], Van Gogh's studio practice, 2013, p. 65, 169, 302
Door Jan Hulsker, Van Gogh en zijn weg : al zijn tekeningen en schilderijen in hun samenhang en ontwikkeling, cop. 1977, p. 213-214, 216
Sjraar van Heugten, Van Gogh in Provence : modernizing tradition, 2016, p. 64, 66
Ronald de Leeuw, Van Gogh Museum : schilderijen en pastels, 1993, p. 76
Belinda Thomson, Van Gogh paintings : the masterpieces, 2018, p. 42
Belinda Thomson, Van Gogh schilder : de meesterwerken, 2016, p. 42, 188
Mark Edo Tralbaut, Van Gogh te Antwerpen, 1958, p. 21, 41, 42
Chris Stolwijk, Sjraar van Heugten, Leo Jansen en Andreas Blühm (eds.), Vincent's choice : the Musée imaginaire of Van Gogh, 2003, p. 256
By J.B. de la Faille ; foreword by Charles Terrasse ; translated from the French by Prudence Montagu-Pollock, Vincent van Gogh, 1939, p. 178
Walter Feilchenfeldt, Vincent van Gogh : Die Gemälde 1886-1890 : Händler, Sammler, Ausstellungen : Die Frühen Provenienzen, 2009, p. 284
Vorwort von J.B. de la Faille, Vincent van Gogh : Gemälde, 1928, vol. 1, p. 62, vol. 2, pl. LV
Bogomila Welsh-Ovcharov, Vincent van Gogh : his Paris period 1886-1888, 1976, p. 88
[texts by Ronald de Leeuw...et al.], Vincent van Gogh and his time : Van Gogh & portraits from the Van Gogh Museum and the H.W. Mesdag Museum, 1994, p. 34-35, 114
Mark Edo Tralbaut, Vincent van Gogh in zijn Antwerpsche Periode, 1948, p. 195-199, 283
Ella Hendriks, Louis van Tilborgh ; with the assistance of Margriet van Eikema Hommes, Monique Hageman ; transl. by Michael Hoyle, Vincent van Gogh paintings : volume 2 : Antwerp & Paris 1885-1888, 2011, p. 171-177
J.B. de la Faille ; bijdragen van Abraham M. Hammacher en Jan G. van Gelder ; vert. van het artikel van A.M. Hammacher James Brockway, The works of Vincent van Gogh : his paintings and drawings, 1970, p. 107, 619
