Living with Vincent van Gogh by Martin Bailey

Author:Martin Bailey
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: White Lion Publishing
Published: 2019-06-15T00:00:00+00:00

fig. 68 Shoes, September–December 1886, oil on canvas, 38 x 45 cm, Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (Vincent van Gogh Foundation) (F255)

fig. 69 Self-Portrait with black felt Hat, December 1886–January 1887, oil on canvas, 42 x 33 cm, Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (Vincent van Gogh Foundation) (F208a)

On one occasion Camille Pissarro and his son Lucien encountered Van Gogh in Rue Lepic. The Dutchman, in his blue working clothes, was returning from a day out in Asnières. Lucien recalled: ‘He insisted on showing his studies to my father – leaning them against a wall in the street to the great amazement of the passers-by.’16

The swift progress that Van Gogh was making in his art can be clearly seen in two of his self-portraits, done just nine months apart. In the first, Self-Portrait with black felt Hat (fig. 69), probably done at the beginning of January 1887, he portrays himself as a respectable, well-dressed gentleman with a dapper cravat. Painted in a traditional style, its muted colours are not dissimilar to those used by Russell in his Portrait of Van Gogh (fig. 61).

In contrast, Self-Portrait with grey felt Hat (fig. 70), painted in the autumn of 1887, vibrates with colour and energy. The artist’s ginger beard stands out against the complementary blue-purple background, while the green pupils of his eyes, below orange upper lids, lend his gaze a penetrating intensity. But far more distinctive is the development of his brushwork, with short, sharp strokes in a Neo-Impressionist style. Lines radiate out across the face and in the background they encircle the head, creating a halo effect.

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