Head of a Woman
Vincent van Gogh (1853 - 1890), Nuenen, November 1884-January 1885
oil on canvas,
42.0 cm x 33.3 cm
Credits (obliged to state): Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (Vincent van Gogh Foundation)
Van Gogh hoped one day to become a figure painter. So he was constantly drawing and painting studies of heads. He made portraits of countless men and women who worked on farms around Nuenen (NL). To him, these were not portraits of individuals but depictions of types. In his eyes, they represented the hard life of farm workers.
Above this woman's left eye (on the right of the painting) is a black dot: her pupil. This bit of paint shifted after the painting was done and ended up on her eyelid.
