Three Favorite Self-Portraits of Van Gogh

THREE FAVORITE SELF-PORTRAITS OF VAN GOGH

Vincent van Gogh’s paintings register ambiguously among the popular audience. They come across as brilliant and pleasurable, or conversely, lurid and discordant. They cut both ways.

Whether you love him or hate him, you can’t ignore him. Directly on the heels of the Impressionists, van Gogh’s work laid the foundation of modern art.

Van Gogh’s palette was bold and unrestrained, his rendering highly expressive, sometimes deeply disturbed. He influenced Pointillism, Fauvism, Expressionism, and everything afterward.

This self-portrait is the first of my three favorites. Van Gogh, no precision draughtsman, is noticeably controlled here, not given to major distortions. Oranges and blues contrast brilliantly. Van Gogh’s countenance is rendered with volume—the rest of the picture, most of it, is flat. We are drawn toward his face as a result.

Self-Portrait (1887)

This next self-portrait is more sophisticated. It is lit from the back, and the effect is striking. Colors are vibrant, which is characteristically van Gogh. Oranges and blues contrast vividly. The entire palette is bright, pleasant, and harmonious. Van Gogh’s textured, energetic brushwork is probably the most compelling aspect of the piece. Almost like a well-raked Japanese garden.

Self-Portrait (December 1887-February 1888)

This third self-portrait would make Mesmer proud. The entire surface of the painting convulses. We recall that the painters of this period did not regularly engage in optical effects, so van Gogh is highly original in this respect.

Here the subject positively glowers. We know that van Gogh committed suicide soon afterward, in the space of about one year—a biographical detail that makes this self-portrait—his last—that much more intriguing.

Radiance, vigorous brushwork, energy, obsession to the point of lunacy—it’s all so very van Gogh. A masterpiece.

Self-Portrait (1889)