Self-Portrait with a Straw Hat (verso: The Potato Peeler) | Vincent van Gogh | All | European Paintings | Collection Database | Works of Art

Gallery LabelIn 1886, at age thirty-two, Van Gogh arrived in Paris "not even know[ing] what the Impressionists were." By the time he left, two years later, he had cast off the muddy palette and coarse brushwork that had characterized his earlier efforts and embraced the latest developments in painting. Here he demonstrates his awareness of Neo-Impressionist technique and color theory, using the back of a Dutch peasant study he had taken with him to Paris.

Van Gogh produced more than twenty self-portraits during his Parisian sojourn. Short of funds but determined nevertheless to hone his skills as a figure painter, he became his own best sitter: "I deliberately bought a good mirror so if I lacked a model I could work from my own likeness."

Provenanceprivate collection, Asnières (possibly comtesse Clara Levaillant de La Boissière and her daughter Eugénie Jeanne Levaillant de La Boissière, Asnières, later elsewhere), gift of the artist ca. 1887–88; sold by 1927, reportedly through an intermediary, to Charpentier; [Galerie Charpentier, Paris, until 1927; sold through Bogdanoff to Bammann]; [Galerie Hans Bammann, Düsseldorf, in 1927; cat., 1927, ill.]; [Justin K. Thannhauser, Berlin and New York]; Adelaide Milton de Groot, New York (by 1936–d. 1967)

Exhibition History

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Van Gogh: Paintings and Drawings," October 21, 1949–January 15, 1950, no. 49A (as "Portrait of the Artist," lent by Adelaide Milton de Groot, New York).

New York. Perls Galleries. "Masterpieces from the Collection of Adelaide Milton de Groot," April 14–May 3, 1958, no. 12 (as "Portrait de l'Artiste").

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Portrait of the Artist," January 18–March 7, 1972, no. 27 (as "Portrait of the Artist").

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Van Gogh as Critic and Self-Critic," October 30, 1973–January 6, 1974, no. 1.

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Impressionism: A Centenary Exhibition," December 12, 1974–February 10, 1975, not in catalogue.

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Van Gogh in Arles," October 18–December 30, 1984, no. 1 (as "Self-Portrait").

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Vincent van Gogh: The Drawings," October 12–December 31, 2005, not in catalogue.

New York. Neue Galerie. "Van Gogh and Expressionism," March 23–July 2, 2007, no. 74.

References

Alte Meister: Deutsche und Französische Kunst des 19. Jahrhunderts. Düsseldorf, 1927, unpaginated, ill.

J.-B. de La Faille. "Unbekannte Bilder von Vincent van Gogh." Der Cicerone 19 (February 1927), pp. 101–2, ill.

J.-B. de La Faille. L'Oeuvre de Vincent van Gogh: Catalogue Raisonné. Paris, 1928, vol. 1, pp. 102–3, no. 365; vol. 2, pl. C [100].

Ludwig Thormaelen. Letter to Hans Bammann. April 6, 1932 [see Ref. Dorn and Feilchenfeldt 1993].

J.-B. de La Faille. Vincent van Gogh. London, [1939], pp. 296, 559, 580, 587, no. 409, ill.

Harry B. Wehle. "The de Groot Collection." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 6 (June 1948), p. 269, ill.

Katharina Bromig-Kolleritz von Novisancz. "Die Selbstbildnisse Vincent van Goghs: Versuch einer kunsthistorischen Erfassung der Darstellungen." PhD diss., Universität München, 1955, p. 102 [see Ref. Erpel 1963].

A.-M. Hammacher in Van Gogh Self-Portraits. Exh. cat., Marlborough Fine Art Ltd. London, [1960], unpaginated, fig. e.

Fritz Erpel. Die Selbstbildnisse Vincent van Goghs. Berlin, 1963, pp. 14, 16–17, 55, no. 15, ill. [English ed., "Van Gogh: The Self-Portraits," trans. Doris Edwards, Greenwich, Conn., [1969], pp. 19, 20, 56, no. 15, ill.].

Paolo Lecaldano. "Da Etten a Parigi." L'opera pittorica completa di Van Gogh e i suoi nessi grafici. 1, repr. [1st ed., 1966]. Milan, 1977, pp. 100, 119, no. 463, ill.

J.-B. de La Faille. The Works of Vincent van Gogh: His Paintings and Drawings. Amsterdam, 1970, pp. 170–71, 625, no. F365 verso, ill.

John Walsh Jr. Portrait of the Artist. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1972, p. 16, no. 27.

Matthias Arnold. "Duktus und Bildform bei Vincent van Gogh." PhD diss., Ruprecht-Karl University, Heidelberg, 1973, p. 188 n. 227.

Anthony M. Clark in The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Notable Acquisitions, 1965–1975. New York, 1975, p. 86, ill.

Bogomila Welsh-Ovcharov Universiteit Utrecht. Vincent van Gogh: His Paris Period, 1886–1888. Utrecht, 1976, pp. 104, 125 n. 51, p. 226.

Jan Hulsker. The Complete Van Gogh: Paintings, Drawings, Sketches. [1st ed., Amsterdam, 1977]. New York, 1980, pp. 145, 300, 302, 304–5, no. 1354, ill.

Ronald Pickvance. Van Gogh in Arles. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1984, pp. 33–35, no. 1, ill. in color (overall and detail).

Pascal Bonafoux. Van Gogh par Vincent. Paris, 1986, p. 189, colorpl. 23 [English ed., "Van Gogh Self Portraits," trans. Daniel Simon, Secaucus, N.J., 1989].

Gary Tinterow et al. "Modern Europe." The Metropolitan Museum of Art. 8, New York, 1987, pp. 10, 60–61, colorpl. 40.

Bogomila Welsh-Ovcharov in Van Gogh à Paris. Exh. cat., Paris. Paris, 1988, p. 116.

Glenn Collins. "Is It or Isn't It? A Van Gogh Languishes in Limbo." New York Times (July 8, 1990), pp. H1, H31, ill. pp. H1 and H31.

Anne Reich. "Jedermann weiss, dass es da noch Zeitbomben gibt." Züri Woche (July 26, 1990), p. 37, ill.

Roland Dorn and Walter Feilchenfeldt in "Genuine or Fake?—On the History and Problems of Van Gogh Connoisseurship." The Mythology of Vincent van Gogh. English ed. Tokyo, 1993, p. 296, fig. 188.

Matthias Arnold. Vincent van Gogh: Werk und Wirkung. Munich, 1995, pp. 770–71.

Bernard Denvir. Vincent: A Complete Portrait. London, 1995, pp. 64–65, ill. (color).

Klaus Herding in Ausstieg aus dem Bild. Hamburg, 1996, p. 150 n. 20.

Jan Hulsker. The New Complete Van Gogh: Paintings, Drawings, Sketches. rev. ed. Amsterdam, 1996, pp. 144, 262, 300, 302, 304, no. 1354, ill. p. 305.

Bogomila Welsh-Ovcharov. "'I Shall Grow in the Tempest': Van Gogh 100 Years Later." Van Gogh 100. Westport, Conn., 1996, p. 16 n. 4.

Martin Bailey. "Cent Van Gogh remis en question." Journal des arts no. 39 (May 30, 1997), pp. 13–14, 25, ill. in color (overall and detail).

Martin Bailey. "At Least Forty-five Van Goghs May Well be Fakes." Art Newspaper 8 (July–August 1997), pp. 21, 23, ill.

Bogomila Welsh-Ovcharov. Van Gogh in Provence and Auvers. [New York], 1999, ill. p. 9 (color).

Walter Feilchenfeldt. By Appointment Only: Cézanne, Van Gogh and Some Secrets of Art Dealing. English ed. London, 2006, pp. 116–17, ill. (color).

Laurence Madeline. Van Gogh, Picasso. Paris, 2006, pp. 144, 176 n. 18.

Jill Lloyd in Van Gogh and Expressionism. Exh. cat., Neue Galerie. Ostfildern, 2007, p. 17, colorpl. 74.

Susan Alyson Stein in Masterpieces of European Painting, 1800–1920, in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2007, pp. 168, 255, no. 156, ill. (color and bw).

Curatorial Department

European Paintings: All