Self-Portrait or Portrait of Theo van Gogh
Currently on view
Vincent van Gogh (1853 - 1890), Paris, Summer 1887
oil on cardboard, 19.0 cm x 14.1 cm
Credits (obliged to state): Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (Vincent van Gogh Foundation)
This painting was long thought to be a self-portrait of Vincent; however, another view is that it shows his brother Theo.
The brothers, namely, bore a striking resemblance to one another. Unfortunately, there is no decisive evidence to determine who is actually portrayed, which is why the painting now has a double title.
The portrait is unusually small and painted in considerable detail. Van Gogh was probably trying to compete with portrait photos. He had written some time earlier, 'it's a cause worth fighting for to show people that there's something else in human beings besides what the photographer is able to get out of them with his machine.'
- F-number
- F0294
- JH-number
- JH1209
- Object number
- s0157V1962
- Dimensions
- 19.0 cm x 14.1 cm, 28.7 cm x 23.9 cm
- Provenance
- Left by the artist at the apartment of his brother Theo van Gogh, Paris, summer 1887; 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)
Noordbrabants Museum, Van Goghs intimi. Vrienden, familie, modellen, 21 September 2019 - 12 January 2020
Hiroshima, Hiroshima Prefectural Museum of Art, Van Gogh in Paris. New perspectives, 15 July 2013 - 23 September 2013
Sendai, Miyagi Museum of Art, Van Gogh in Paris. New perspectives, 26 May 2013 - 8 July 2013
Kyoto, Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art, Van Gogh in Paris. New perspectives, 30 March 2013 - 19 May 2013
Seoul, Seoul Arts Center, Van Gogh in Paris. A dialogue with modernism, 4 November 2012 - 24 March 2013
Nagasaki, Huis ten Bosch (Japan), Van Gogh in Paris: new perspectives, 29 July 2012 - 28 October 2012
Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum, Van Gogh in Antwerpen en Parijs: nieuwe inzichten, 22 June 2011 - 18 September 2011
Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Van Gogh. Face to face, 2 July 2000 - 24 September 2000
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. 22
National Gallery of Art, Van Gogh's Van Goghs. Masterpieces from the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, 4 October 1998 - 3 January 1999, no. 22
Hamburger Kunsthalle, Van Gogh. Die Pariser Selbstbildnisse, 17 March 1995 - 28 May 1995, no. zonder nr.
Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum, Parijse zelfportretten van Vincent van Gogh, 10 June 1994 - 9 October 1994
Paris, Institut Néerlandais, Cent dessins du Musée Kröller-Müller, 1 December 1971 - 1 January 1972, no. 30
Gothenburg, Göteborgs Konstmuseum, Vincent van Gogh. Målningar, akvareller, teckningar, 30 December 1965 - 20 February 1966, no. 23
Stockholm, Moderna Museet, Vincent van Gogh. Målningar, akvareller, teckningar, 23 October 1965 - 19 December 1965, no. 23
Sheffield, Graves Gallery (Museums Sheffield), Vincent van Gogh. Paintings and drawings, 21 April 1963 - 19 May 1963, no. 6
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. 27
Detroit Institute of Arts, Vincent van Gogh. Paintings, watercolors and drawings, 11 December 1962 - 29 January 1963, no. 27
Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania), Carnegie Institute, Vincent van Gogh. Paintings, watercolors and drawings, 18 October 1962 - 4 November 1962, no. 27
Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Vincent van Gogh. Paintings, watercolors and drawings, 22 March 1962 - 29 April 1962, no. 27
Albright Art Gallery, Vincent van Gogh. Paintings, watercolors and drawings, 30 January 1962 - 11 March 1962, no. 27
Cleveland, Cleveland Museum of Art, Vincent van Gogh. Paintings, watercolors and drawings, 5 December 1961 - 14 January 1962, no. 27
Baltimore Museum of Art, Vincent van Gogh. Paintings, watercolors and drawings, 18 October 1961 - 26 November 1961, no. 27
Paris, Institut Néerlandais, Les amis de Van Gogh, 9 November 1960 - 17 December 1960, no. 46
London, Marlborough Fine Art Ltd, Van Gogh selfportraits, 1 October 1960 - 1 October 1960, no. 15
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. 29
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. 29
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. 29
Amsterdam, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, Vincent van Gogh, 24 June 1955 - 1 September 1955, no. 112
Antwerp, Zaal Comité voor Artistieke Werking, Vincent van Gogh, 7 May 1955 - 19 June 1955, no. 204
Amsterdam, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, Eeuwfeest Vincent van Gogh, 23 July 1953 - 20 September 1953, no. 59
Kröller-Müller Museum, Eeuwfeest Vincent van Gogh, 24 May 1953 - 19 July 1953, no. 59
The Hague, Gemeentemuseum Den Haag, Vincent van Gogh, 30 March 1953 - 17 May 1953, no. 72
Musée d'Albi, Toulouse-Lautrec, ses amis et ses maîtres. Cinquantenaire de la mort de Toulouse-Lautrec, 11 August 1951 - 28 October 1951, no. 331
Art Institute of Chicago, Vincent van Gogh paintings and drawings. A special loan exhibition, 1 February 1950 - 16 April 1950, no. 56
Metropolitan Museum of Art, Vincent van Gogh paintings and drawings. A special loan exhibition, 21 October 1949 - 15 January 1950, no. 56
The Hague, Gemeentemuseum Den Haag, Vincent van Gogh. Collectie ir. V.W. van Gogh, 12 October 1948 - 10 January 1949, no. 73
Groningen, Museum van Oudheden, Vincent van Gogh, 18 October 1947 - 16 November 1947, no. 25
Amsterdam, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, Vincent van Gogh, 14 September 1945 - 1 December 1945, no. zonder nr.
Jan Hulsker, The complete Van Gogh : paintings, drawings, sketches, 1980, p. 262, 264, 266-267, 272
Fritz Erpel, Die Selbstbildnisse Vincent van Goghs, 1970, p. 55-56
Katharina Bromig-Kolleritz von Novisancz, Die Selbstbildnisse Vincent van Goghs : Versuch einer kunsthistorischen Erfassung der Darstellungen, 1954, p. 33, 44, 98
Ella Hendriks, C. Richard Johnson jr., Luuk van der Loeff ... [et al.], First international workshop on image processing for artist identification, 2007, p. 33, 54
Mariella Guzzoni, In viaggio con Vincent, 2010
Jan Hulsker, The new complete Van Gogh : paintings, drawings, sketches, 1996, p. 262, 264, 266-267, 272
Beatrice Marino, Paints quantified : image analytical studies of preparatory grounds used by Van Gogh, 2006, p. 6-8, 57-59, 79-80, 190
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Ed. by E. van Uitert and M. Hoyle; with contrib. from H. van Crimpen ... [et al.], The Rijksmuseum Vincent van Gogh, 1987, p. 329
Martin Bailey, Studio of the south : Van Gogh in Provence, 2016, p. 16-17, 201
Ella Hendriks and Muriel Geldof, Van Gogh's Antwerp and Paris picture supports (1885-1888) reconstructing choices, p. 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. 262, 264
[Uwe M. Schneede, Evert van Uitert, Christoph Hienrich], Van Gogh : die Pariser Selbstbildnisse, 1995, p. 94-95
[Roland Dorn, Lukas Gloor], Van Gogh : echt falsch : zwei Selbstbildnisse der Sammlung Emil Bührle, p. 21
Edited by Chris Stolwijk ; With the assistance of Renske Suijver ; Texts by Helewise Berger, Esther Dieltjes, Ella Hendriks ... [et al.], Van Gogh : the adventure of becoming an artist, 2010, p. 262-263
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Ella Hendriks and Louis van Tilborgh ; with the assistance of Margriet van Eikema Hommes, Muriel Geldof, Monique Hageman ... [et al.], Van Gogh in Paris : a dialogue with Modernism, 2012, p. 220-221
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Ronald de Leeuw, Van Gogh Museum : schilderijen en pastels, 1993, p. 144
Sjraar van Heugten en Helewise Berger ; met bijdr. van Laura Prins, Van Goghs intimi : vrienden, familie, modellen, 2019, p. 61-62
By J.B. de la Faille ; foreword by Charles Terrasse ; translated from the French by Prudence Montagu-Pollock, Vincent van Gogh, 1939, p. 304
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