Vincent van Gogh
Why are we showcasing self-portraits? Because Van Gogh's dozens of self-portraits were an important part of his oeuvre as a painter. Most probably, Van Gogh's self-portraits depict the face as it appeared in the mirror he used to reproduce his face, i.e. his right side in the image is in reality the left side of his face. Van Gogh was eager to practice painting portraits, but was mostly unable to afford models. Instead, he bought himself a good mirror and used himself as his subject.
He later wrote to his brother Theo: ‘... if I can manage to paint the coloration of my own head, which is not without presenting some difficulty, I’ll surely be able to paint the heads of the other fellows and women as well.’ This painting of the artist with his pipe is sketchy and a little awkward. Nevertheless, it is a spectacular example of the amazingly rapid progress Van Gogh made in Paris. The summary palette and loose brushwork betrays the influence of the Impressionists. The smock, hat and background consist of large, outlined areas of colour, while the face and beard are built up in more detail using different tones. It has often been assumed, given the light, sunny colours and the broad-brimmed straw hat, that this self-portrait was done in Arles but it was in fact painted during a Paris winter, shortly before Vincent departed for the warmer south.