Self-Portrait with Straw Hat and Pipe
Vincent van Gogh (1853 - 1890), Paris, July-August 1887
oil on canvas,
42.5 cm x 32.1 cm
Credits (obliged to state): Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (Vincent van Gogh Foundation)
This picture shows Van Gogh in typical working mode: wearing an artist’s smock and with his pipe clamped in a corner of his mouth. He has sketched himself in oils, using the paint sparingly. The pink ground layer is still clearly visible, for example under his smock and under the background.
Pipe-smoking made Van Gogh feel calm and contented. He felt that, to produce good work, he had to look after himself. And that definitely included being allowed to smoke his pipe ‘in peace’.