Portrait of a Prostitute
Vincent van Gogh (1853 - 1890), Antwerp, December 1885
oil on canvas, 46.3 cm x 38.5 cm
Credits (obliged to state): Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (Vincent van Gogh Foundation)
With her hair in a bun and her jewellery, this woman looks perfectly respectable to us. But to Van Gogh's contemporaries, her low-cut dress and eye makeup told a different story. Van Gogh painted this woman shortly after moving to Antwerp (BE). He needed models so that he could practise portrait painting. Only 'ladies of easy virtue' could be persuaded to pose for a painter they had never met before.
Van Gogh painted this portrait in a single sitting. For the glittering earring, Van Gogh used a thick blob of pinkish-white paint that later fell off.
- F-number
- F0207a
- JH-number
- JH1204
- Object number
- s0143V1962
- Dimensions
- 46.3 cm x 38.5 cm, 66.4 cm x 58.1 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)
Houston, Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Vincent van Gogh. His Life in Art, 10 March 2019 - 27 June 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, Hermitage Amsterdam, Vincent. Het Van Gogh Museum in de Hermitage Amsterdam, 29 September 2012 - 25 April 2013
Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum, Van Gogh in Antwerpen en Parijs: nieuwe inzichten, 22 June 2011 - 18 September 2011
Williamstown, Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Impression. Painting quickly in France 1860-1890, 16 June 2001 - 8 September 2001, no. zonder nr.
Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum, Impressionisme. De vrijheid van de losse toets, 2 March 2001 - 20 May 2001, no. zonder nr.
London, National Gallery (London), Impression. Painting quickly in France 1860-1890, 1 November 2000 - 28 January 2001, no. zonder nr.
Gothenburg, Göteborgs Konstmuseum, Vincent van Gogh. Målningar, akvareller, teckningar, 30 December 1965 - 20 February 1966, no. 11
Stockholm, Moderna Museet, Vincent van Gogh. Målningar, akvareller, teckningar, 23 October 1965 - 19 December 1965, no. 11
Museum voor Schone Kunsten (Gent), Vincent van Gogh. Schilderijen, aquarellen, tekeningen, 19 February 1965 - 28 March 1965, no. 7
Palais des Beaux-Arts (Charleroi), Vincent van Gogh. Schilderijen, aquarellen, tekeningen, 9 January 1965 - 9 February 1965, no. 7
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Vincent van Gogh. Paintings, watercolors and drawings, 2 April 1964 - 28 June 1964, no. 11
Washington Gallery of Modern Art, Vincent van Gogh. Paintings, watercolors and drawings, 2 February 1964 - 19 March 1964, no. 11
Humlebaek, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Vincent van Gogh. Malerier og tegninger, 24 October 1963 - 15 December 1963, no. 11
Kansas City, William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, Vincent van Gogh. Paintings, watercolors and drawings, 7 February 1963 - 26 March 1963, no. 14
Detroit Institute of Arts, Vincent van Gogh. Paintings, watercolors and drawings, 11 December 1962 - 29 January 1963, no. 14
Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania), Carnegie Institute, Vincent van Gogh. Paintings, watercolors and drawings, 18 October 1962 - 4 November 1962, no. 14
Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Vincent van Gogh. Paintings, watercolors and drawings, 22 March 1962 - 29 April 1962, no. 14
Albright Art Gallery, Vincent van Gogh. Paintings, watercolors and drawings, 30 January 1962 - 11 March 1962, no. 14
Cleveland Museum of Art, Vincent van Gogh. Paintings, watercolors and drawings, 5 December 1961 - 14 January 1962, no. 14
Baltimore Museum of Art, Vincent van Gogh. Paintings, watercolors and drawings, 18 October 1961 - 26 November 1961, no. 14
Toronto, The Art Gallery of Toronto, Vincent van Gogh. Paintings-drawings / Tableaux-dessins, 10 February 1961 - 12 March 1961, no. 19
Winnipeg, Winnipeg Art Gallery, Vincent van Gogh. Paintings-drawings / Tableaux-dessins, 29 December 1960 - 31 January 1961, no. 19
Ottawa, National Gallery of Canada, Vincent van Gogh. Paintings-drawings / Tableaux-dessins, 17 November 1960 - 18 December 1960, no. 19
Montréal, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Vincent van Gogh. Paintings-drawings / Tableaux-dessins, 6 October 1960 - 6 November 1960, no. 19
Centraal Museum, Vincent van Gogh schilderijen en tekeningen, verzameling Ir. V.W. van Gogh, 18 December 1959 - 1 February 1960, no. 12
Mons, Museum voor Schoone Kunsten, Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890). Son art et ses amis, 22 March 1958 - 5 May 1958, no. 7
Museum De Waag, Schilderijen van Vincent van Gogh, 31 January 1958 - 20 February 1958, no. 7
Schiedam, Stedelijk Museum Schiedam, Vincent van Gogh, 21 December 1957 - 27 January 1958, no. 8
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Antwerp, Zaal Comité voor Artistieke Werking, Vincent van Gogh, 7 May 1955 - 19 June 1955, no. 123
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Raadhuis, Tentoonstelling Vincent van Gogh, 7 October 1950 - 5 November 1950, no. 10
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Richard Thomson, Nienke Bakker, Isolde Pludermacher ... [et al.], Easy virtue : prostitution in French art 1850-1910, 2016, p. 111
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