Jug in the form of a Head, Self-portrait (usually referred to as the Jug Self-portrait) was produced in glazed stoneware early in 1889[1] by the French Post-Impressionist artist Paul Gauguin. This self-portrayal is especially stark and brutal, and was created in the aftermath of two traumatic events in the artist's life. In December 1888 Gauguin was visiting Vincent van Gogh in Arles when Van Gogh hacked off his left ear (or part of it, accounts vary) before leaving it at a brothel frequented by them both. A few days later in Paris, Gauguin witnessed the beheading of the notorious murderer Prado. Gauguin shows his severed head, dripping with rivulets of blood, his ear cut off, his eyes closed as if in denial.[2]
Gauguin portrays himself with closed eyes and a severed ear. Glaze is used to suggest blood which runs down the side of his face to congeal at his neck. As with many of his self-portraits the object is infused with self-pity. The head resembles a death mask, and the way it is modelled strongly suggests that it has been decapitated, reminiscent of Prado.[3] The portrait evokes Van Gogh in a number of ways, most obviously with the removed ear and its dominant red colouring which gives it, according to writer Naomi Margolis Maurer, "a strong fictitious resemblance to the suffering van Gogh".[4]
The stoneware contains subtle green, grey and olive tones that are often not apparent in reproduction,[2] while its brutal physicality is in part achieved by its three-dimensionality. It has been noted by a number of art critics that photographic reproductions of the object largely fail to convey the impact it makes when viewed firsthand. In 1989 the critic Laurel Gasque wrote, "This macabre image, fired at a very high temperature literally and figuratively, fuses life, myth, and history into an unforgettable emblem of a ravaged man."[2]
A number of events in Gauguin's life led to the object's creation. During November and December of the previous year, he lived with van Gogh in Arles. The objective had been to found an artists' commune. Van Gogh greatly admired Gauguin, and desperately wanted to be treated as his equal. But Gauguin was arrogant and domineering, a fact that often frustrated the Dutchman. Relations between the two deteriorated and eventually Gauguin, alarmed by Van Gogh's drunkenness and temperament, told him he was leaving. Later that day, on a possibly self-serving account supplied by Gauguin fifteen years later,[5][6] Van Gogh confronted Gauguin with the same razor blade he used hours later to mutilate himself, cutting off his left ear (or part of it), an injury sufficiently serious to induce arterial bleeding. Accounts differ as to what happened next, not least because van Gogh himself had no subsequent recollection of the events, but it is certain that van Gogh, after staunching the bleeding, bandaged his injury and left the severed ear at a maison de tolérance on Rue du Bout d'Aeles that van Gogh and Gauguin frequented.[7] Van Gogh at this time was extolling the virtue of sexual continence in the pursuit of Art (he was, in any case, impotent by then), but nevertheless used prostitutes for "hygienic reasons". The story that he left the ear with a prostitute called Rachel asking her to "guard it like a treasure" that immediately gained currency, appears to originate from a local news report of the time.[8][dead link][9] Gauguin's own account was that he left it with the bouncer with the message "Remember me" (the implication being that it was meant for Gauguin), before staggering back to the house he shared with Gauguin.[6][10][11] Gauguin was amongst the first to find the Dutch artist the morning after, lying unconscious with his head covered in blood.
According to art critic Martin Gayford, prostitutes were to van Gogh Sisters of Mercy, providing "a little taste of paradise at 2 francs a time", and representing his single emotional and sensuous point of contact with other people.[12] He was around this time reading about Christ's agony in the garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus prayed with his disciples the night before his crucifixion. The story struck a deep chord, in particular, the words "If thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done". He and Gauguin had been discussing a recent series of murders of prostitutes (those of Prado and Jack the Ripper). He had recently read Émile Zola's novel "The Sin of Father Mouret", in which a character "as Father Mournet was finishing his prayers...calmly pulled a knife from his pocket, opened it, and chopped off the friar's ears."[13]
Vincent van Gogh, Paul Gauguin's Armchair, 1888Photograph of the empty chair in van Gogh's room at the Auberge Ravoux in Auvers.
There is no conclusive evidence that the unpredictable Gauguin attacked his equally temperamental friend that day.[14]
When Vincent's brother Theo arrived at the Arles hospital a few days later—after being informed of the event by Gauguin—he spoke of Vincent's irrationality, high fever and apparent "madness" in the days before the mutilation.[15] From his hospital bed, Van Gogh asked for Gauguin continually over the next number of days, but the Frenchman stayed away. He had told one of the policemen attending the case when van Gogh was discovered unconscious, "Be kind enough, Monsieur, to awaken this man with great care, and if he asks for me, tell him I have left for Paris; the sight of me might prove fatal for him."[16] From accounts related by Gauguin to friends on his arrival back in Paris a few days later, it has been suggested that he also associated the amputation with Gethsemane.[15][17]
On December 28, two days after his return to Paris, Gauguin went to the dawn execution of the criminal Prado.[18] Van Gogh and Gauguin had talked about Prado's high-profile trial. Prado had murdered a prostitute and Gauguin thought his trial unjust,[19] a view he shared with Friedrich Nietzsche who refers to him in his last "madness letter".[20] Both Prado and the equally infamous murderer Pranzini were at one time patrons at the Parisian café Le Tambourin where Van Gogh had exhibited Japanese prints. The execution left a deep mark on the artist and soured the artist's view of humanity.[21] According to Gauguin's account, the execution was botched; the first strike of the guillotine's blade missed Prado's neck and carved off a portion of his face. The man rose from the headboard in agony and shock and had to be forced back into position before the second attempt to remove his head.[18][6] However contemporary news reports of the execution make no mention of this.[22]
Gauguin's attendance at the execution was a result of the deep shock left by Van Gogh's self-mutilation. Writer Jerome Winer suggests that Gauguin may have felt guilty over his treatment of Van Gogh to identify with Prado.[23] According to Bradley Collins, "There is no question that Gauguin would have strongly associated Vincent with the execution".[18] Collins continues, "If Gauguin had been terrified by the sight of the near-dead Vincent curled up in his bloody sheets, he may have had the counterphobic desire to reassure himself of his courage by taking an unflinching look at Prado's execution. He may also have wanted to glory in his own innocence and another's guilt."[18]
Iconography
Christ in the Garden of Olives, Gauguin, 1889. Note the red hair of the Christ / Gauguin self-portrait hybrid, the colour of which has been described as "supernaturally red", and as with the jug object directly evokes van Gogh.
The work is informed by Romantic and Symbolist iconography,[18] as well as motifs from Christian and classical sources;[4] it evokes Christ, John the Baptist and Orpheus, all of whom were martyred for their passion and beliefs.[21] During this period, Gauguin often portrayed himself in a manner similar to representations of Christ, in an attempt to evoke martyrdom. Gauguin was disillusioned with the materialism he saw around him and, at the time, felt alienated by the art-buying public and from members of the art scene who reacted against his domineering and self-aggrandising personality. Younger artists who had been his disciples rebelled and he was sidelined. Of another similar self-portrait, Christ in the Garden of Olives, Gauguin wrote
There I have painted my own self portrait... but it also represents the crushing of an ideal, and a pain that is both divine and human, Jesus is totally abandoned; his disciples are leaving him, in a setting as sad as his soul.[4]
The technique used to create the object was borrowed in part from the Far East, especially in the use of dripped paint on glazed stoneware which was influenced by Japanese craftsmen of the Takatori region. The idea of merging the form of a head and a jug was taken from Peruvianpottery, likely from pieces his mother had collected when he was a child.[21]
↑ Gauguin wrote of Van Gogh, "His state is worse, he wants to sleep with the patients, chase the nurses, and washes himself in the coal bucket. That is to say, he continues the biblical mortifications." See Gayford, 284
Druick, Douglas; Druick, Peter; Salvesen, Britt; Lister; Kristin. Van Gogh and Gauguin: the studio of the south. Art Institute of Chicago with Rijksmuseum Vincent van Gogh, 2001. ISBN0-500-51054-7
Galbally, Ann. A Remarkable Friendship: Vincent van Gogh and John Peter Russell. Miegunyah Press, 2008. ISBN0-522-85376-5
Gasque, Laurel. "Gauguin: Sight and Sound". ThirdWay, Volume 12, No 4, April 1989.
Gayford, Martin. The Yellow House: Van Gogh, Gauguin, and Nine Turbulent Weeks in Provence. New York: Mariner Books, 2008. ISBN0-618-99058-5
Margolis Maurer, Naomi. The Pursuit of Spiritual Wisdom: Thought and Art of Vincent van Gogh and Paul Gauguin. Madison, NJ: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1998. ISBN0-8386-3749-3
Naifeh, Steven; Smith, Gregory White. Van Gogh: The Life. Profile Books, 2011. ISBN978-1-84668-010-6
Winer, Jerome. The Annual of Psychoanalysis, Volume 22 New York: Routledge, 1995. ISBN0-88163-135-3
Vincent Willem van Gogh was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who is among the most famous and influential figures in the history of Western art. In just over a decade, he created approximately 2100 artworks, including around 860 oil paintings, most of them in the last two years of his life. His oeuvre includes landscapes, still lifes, portraits, and self-portraits, most of which are characterised by bold colours and dramatic brushwork that contributed to the rise of expressionism in modern art. Van Gogh's work was beginning to gain critical attention before he died from a self-inflicted gunshot at age 37. During his lifetime, only one of van Gogh's paintings, The Red Vineyard, was sold.
The portraits of Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890) include self-portraits, portraits of him by other artists, and photographs—one of which is dubious—of the Dutch artist. Van Gogh's dozens of self-portraits were an important part of his œuvre as a painter. Most probably, van Gogh's self-portraits are depicting 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.
The Starry Night is an oil-on-canvas painting by the Dutch Post-Impressionist painter Vincent van Gogh, painted in June 1889. It depicts the view from the east-facing window of his asylum room at Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, just before sunrise, with the addition of an imaginary village. It has been in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City since 1941, acquired through the Lillie P. Bliss Bequest. Widely regarded as Van Gogh's magnum opus, The Starry Night is one of the most recognizable paintings in Western art.
Theodorus van Gogh was a Dutch art dealer and the younger brother of Vincent van Gogh. Known as Theo, his support of his older brother's artistic ambitions and well-being allowed Vincent to devote himself entirely to painting. As an art dealer, Theo van Gogh played a crucial role in introducing contemporary French art to the public.
Fall of Leaves , or Falling Autumn Leaves is a pair of paintings by the Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh. They were executed during the two months at the end of 1888 that his artist friend Paul Gauguin spent with him at The Yellow House in Arles, France.
Bedroom in Arles is the title given to three similar paintings by 19th-century Dutch Post-Impressionist painter Vincent van Gogh.
L'Arlésienne, L'Arlésienne : Madame Ginoux, or Portrait of Madame Ginoux is the title given to a group of six similar paintings by Vincent van Gogh, painted in Arles, November 1888, and in Saint-Rémy, February 1890. L'Arlésienne means literally "the woman from Arles".
Vincent van Gogh lived during the Impressionist era. With the development of photography, painters and artists turned to conveying the feeling and ideas behind people, places, and things rather than trying to imitate their physical forms. Impressionist artists did this by emphasizing certain hues, using vigorous brushstrokes, and paying attention to highlighting. Vincent van Gogh implemented this ideology to pursue his goal of depicting his own feelings toward and involvement with his subjects. Van Gogh's portraiture focuses on color and brushstrokes to demonstrate their inner qualities and Van Gogh's own relationship with them.
The Roulin Family is a group of portrait paintings Vincent van Gogh executed in Arles in 1888 and 1889 of Joseph, his wife Augustine and their three children: Armand, Camille and Marcelle. This series is unique in many ways. Although Van Gogh loved to paint portraits, it was difficult for financial and other reasons for him to find models. So, finding an entire family that agreed to sit for paintings — in fact, for several sittings each — was a bounty.
Les Arènes is a painting by Vincent van Gogh executed in Arles, in November or December 1888, during the period of time when Paul Gauguin was living with him in The Yellow House. The bullfight season in Arles that year started on Easter Sunday 1April and ended on 21October. Van Gogh's painting is therefore not a study of nature but done from memory. Gauguin encouraged van Gogh to work in the studio in this manner. The painting may not be finished as the paint is very thinly applied, and patches of bare jute show through in places.
The Painter of Sunflowers is a portrait of Vincent van Gogh by Paul Gauguin. Van Gogh is depicted sitting before an easel, presumably painting his “Sunflower” series. The work, which is a piece from Gauguin’s “Arles Period”, was created in Arles, France, in December, 1888. The painting is in the collection of the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam.
Hospital at Arles is the subject of two paintings that Vincent van Gogh made of the hospital in which he stayed in December 1888 and again in January 1889. The hospital is located in Arles in southern France. One of the paintings is of the central garden between four buildings titled Garden of the Hospital in Arles ; the other painting is of a ward within the hospital titled Ward of the Hospital in Arles. Van Gogh also painted Portrait of Dr. Félix Rey, a portrait of his physician while in the hospital.
Portrait of Artist's Mother is an 1888 painting by Vincent van Gogh of his mother, Anna Carbentus van Gogh, drawn from a black-and-white photograph. Van Gogh's introduction to art was through his mother, herself an amateur artist. After years of strained relations with family members, Van Gogh excitedly shared some of his works he thought his mother would appreciate most, of flowers and natural settings. In this painting, Van Gogh captures his mother's dignified and proud nature. It was painted at almost the same time, and with a very similar palette of colours and pose as his Self Portrait
The death of Vincent van Gogh occurred in the early morning of 29 July, 1890 in his room at the Auberge Ravoux, in the French village of Auvers-sur-Oise, after presumably shooting himself two days earlier.
The Letters of Vincent van Gogh is a collection of 903 surviving letters written (820) or received (83) by Vincent van Gogh. More than 650 of these were from Vincent to his brother Theo. The collection also includes letters van Gogh wrote to his sister Wil and other relatives, as well as between artists such as Paul Gauguin, Anthon van Rappard, and Émile Bernard.
Memory of the Garden at Etten (Ladies of Arles) is an oil painting by Vincent van Gogh. It was executed in Arles around November 1888 and is in the collection of the Hermitage Museum. It was intended as decoration for his bedroom at the Yellow House.
Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear is an 1889 self-portrait by Dutch Post-Impressionist artist Vincent van Gogh. The painting is in the collection of the Courtauld Institute of Art and on display in the Gallery at Somerset House. The painting includes inspiration from Japanese Woodblock printing.
Self-Portrait with Halo and Snake, also known as Self-Portrait, is an 1889 oil-on-wood painting by French artist Paul Gauguin, which represents his late Brittany period in the fishing village of Le Pouldu in northwestern France. No longer comfortable with Pont-Aven, Gauguin moved on to Le Pouldu with his friend and student Meijer de Haan and a small group of artists. He stayed for several months in the autumn of 1889 and the summer of 1890, where the group spent their time decorating the interior of Marie Henry's inn with every major type of art work. Gauguin painted his Self-Portrait in the dining room with its companion piece, Portrait of Jacob Meyer de Haan (1889).
Van Gogh's Chair is a painting created in 1888 by Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh. It is currently held by the National Gallery, London.
At Eternity's Gate is a 2018 biographical drama film about the final years of painter Vincent van Gogh's life, including dramatizing the theory that van Gogh's death was caused by manslaughter rather than suicide.
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