Self-Portrait

Catalogue numbers: F 269v, JH 1301.

When he had no access to models, Van Gogh regularly painted himself. During the summer of 1887, he actually produced a whole series of self-portraits. The formal jacket he wears in this painting is an exception. In most of them he is wearing his artist's smock.

This is one of Van Gogh's 'double-sided' paintings. To save money, he has painted this self-portrait on the back of another painting. He was broke. Research has revealed that he was using a cheap paintbrush that was losing its hairs: they are still embedded in the paint.