Head of a Woman
Currently on view
Vincent van Gogh (1853 - 1890), Nuenen, March 1885
oil on canvas, 42.7 cm x 33.5 cm
Credits (obliged to state): Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (Vincent van Gogh Foundation)
In the winter of 1884-1885, Van Gogh made a large series of paintings in Nuenen (NL): studies of farm workers' heads. Peasant women in Brabant really did wear white headdresses in those days. These intrigued Van Gogh because of the contrast with their faces, which remained partly in shadow. 'The heads of these women here with the white caps — it’s difficult — but it’s so eternally beautiful', he wrote. At first glance, this woman's headdress looks white, but if you look more carefully you can see that Van Gogh used a variety of colours.
Out of all the study heads from Nuenen, this woman is the only one whose name is known: Gordina de Groot. She is also at the table in The Potato Eaters.
- F-number
- F0130
- JH-number
- JH0692
- Object number
- s0139V1962
- Dimensions
- 42.7 cm x 33.5 cm, 57.6 cm x 48.3 cm
- Provenance
- Taken from Nuenen by his brother, Theo van Gogh, Paris, at the end of March 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; transferred by Vincent Willem van Gogh, Laren, on 10 July 1962 to the Vincent van Gogh Foundation, Amsterdam; agreement concluded on 21 July 1962 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; 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)
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