#01 - 1886 - [Fall] Self-Portrait - drawing
#02 - 1886 - [Spring] Self-Portrait with Cap - drawing
#03 - 1886 - [Spring] Self-Portrait with Cap - drawing
#04 - 1886 - [Spring] Self-Portrait with Dark Felt Hat
#05 - 1886 - [Spring] Self-Portrait with Dark Felt Hat at the Easel
#06 - 1886 - [Spring] Self-Portrait with Pipe
#07 - 1886 - [Spring] Self-Portrait with Pipe
#08 - 1886 - [Autumn] Self-Portrait
#09 - 1887 - [early] Self-Portrait with Pipe and Glass
#10 - 1887 - [Mar-Apr] Self-Portrait with Grey Felt Hat
#11 - 86/87 - [Winter] Self-Portrait with Grey Felt Hat
#12 - 1887 - [Spring - Summer] Self-Portrait
#13 - 1887 - [Spring] Self-Portrait
#14 - 1887 - [Spring - Summer] Self-Portrait
#15 - 1887 - [Summer] Self-Portrait
#16 - 1887 - [Summer] Self-Portrait with Straw Hat and Pipe
#17 - 1887 - [Summer] Self-Portrait
#18 - 1887 - [Summer] Self-Portrait with Straw Hat
#19 - 1887 - [Summer] Self-Portrait
#20 - 1887 - [Summer] Self-Portrait
#21 - 1887 - [Summer] Self-Portrait with Straw Hat
#22 - 1887 - [Summer] Self-Portrait with Straw Hat
#23 - 1887 - [Dec] Self-Portrait with a Japanese Print
#24 - 1887 - [Autumn] Self-Portrait
#25 - 87/88 - [Winter] Self-Portrait
#26 - 87/88 - [Winter] Self-Portrait with Grey Felt Hat
#27 - 87/88 - [Winter] Self-Portrait with Straw Hat
#28 - 1888 - [early] Self-Portrait in Front of the Easel
#29 - 1888 - [Aug] Self-Portrait with Pipe and Straw Hat
#30 - 1888 - [Sept] Self-Portrait (Dedicated to Paul Gauguin)
#31 - 1888 - [Nov] Self-Portrait
#32 - 1889 - [Jan] Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear
#33 - 1889 - [Jan] Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear and Pipe
All Self-Portraits in Saint-Rémy show the artist's head from the left, i.e. the side with ear not mutilated
#34 - 1889 - [Sept] Self-Portrait
#35 - 1889 - [late Aug] Self-Portrait
#36 - 1889 - [Sept] Self-Portrait
27th July 1890 - Van Gogh shoots himself
29th July 1890 - Van Gogh dies
source: http://www.vangoghgallery.com/catalog/
Previous research
vague Nietzsche reference, if his brothers opposition made his work stronger?
'what doesn't kill me makes me stronger'
Paul Guaguin portrait of Van Gogh 'the painter of sunflowers' Dec 1888
Painting when he visited in Arles, only stayed for 2months, they argued.
"body face distorted, deranged invalid - envious of Van Gogh" - Power of art dvd
1889 - final self portrait, he described it as a 'studying calm' vortex,
of paint... Engulfing, clinical map of physical and clinical distress.
the blue waves, less morbid. Trying to recover... - power of art dvd
he hoped people would feel his work, not just see it, he got what he wanted... 'what am I in the eyes of most people?
Inspired by Impressionists, 'Van Gogh developed an art of supreme emotional intensity'
'He did not merely attempt to paint what he saw : he painted what he felt.'
'an expression of the painter's soul and emotions.'
This is primarily my reason for choosing Van
Gogh, it is perhaps this uniqueness that meant his paintings would go
beyond simply + realistically portraying a person and to see if how one
feels is a truthful representation, after all feelings cannot lie? Or
can they? Suppressed/unconscious could still affect how we feel so
therefore still being biased... Define the term 'biased' to be clearer,
these things they artist would have no knowledge, or control of....
could go as far as to our disposition relating to our genes.
#32 self-portrait - "Self-portrait with Bandaged Ear. 1889. A cruelly truthful self-portrait
of Van Gogh after he had cut off a piece of his own ear in a fit of
madness. Courtauld Institute Galleries, London."
This kind of art has developed a name - 'expressionistic'
'Expressionist is almost by definition an individualist, pre-occupied
with his subjective reactions; but although expressionism has never been
a distinctive movement with a set programme, it has certainly been a
persistent tendency in modern art.'p9
It's good to have narrowed down what this type
of movement was called... and here it is said that it is subjective
reactions, which seems to go against the objectivity I am looking for in
this dissertation.
Remember the subjective --> objective move
which may be done by the seer... then remember the seer may be subject
to the subjective, therefore not being entirely objective. The lead onto
the context driven route (kind of coherentism).
'It has appeared
in a variety of guises which have in common only the artist's practice
of modifying reality in the interests of emotional truth - in order, as
Van Gogh himself stated, that the picture might be 'truer than the
literal truth'. p9
I think this will be very important
in the essay... So would it in fact be 'truer than literal truth'?
Perhaps this is how my essay will flow and this painting will be the
supporting argument that starts off my essays tendency to go towards the
context driven... The context of the work would indeed be the emotions
portrayed of the character, but then maybe the question goes to how
accurately that it is portrayed and how well the seer perceives it...
Wrote many letters, notably his brother Theo.
These therefore aid the context-driven nature of his work. Prior to
reading about Van Gogh (gaining a deeper context into his work) I did
see his paintings as not an accurate representation. All showed
different features of himself...
1886 - Paris years
'But from this time onwards, the most fascinating record of his
appearance is the artist's own : self-portraiture, previously
occasional, now became virtually a habit with Van Gogh, revealing his
moods, preoccupations and even something of his technical development.'
p36
'A self-portrait done in Antwerp makes him look older than his years,
like a middle aged, pipe smoking labourer clad in his shabby best suit
to sit for a photograph. His sombre clothing tones in with the gloomy
background; the painting might serve as an illustration of the sort of
thing against which the Impressionists had revolted. the Paris
self-portraits are not only measureably brighter, and technically
adventurous in line with his other works of the period; they also show
him in a surprising new light.'......... (talk of dress sense) p36-7
'At the very least the self-portraits express a state of mind - here,
surely, a deep involvement with the Parisian way of life.' p37
support for truth
Reflects a good state of mind for Van Gogh, surely. His quote:
"And mind my dear
fellow, Paris is Paris. There is but one Paris and however hard living
may be here, and if it became worse and harder even - the french air
clears up the brain and does good - a world of good."
#28 - 'A final self-portrait,
done in January or February of 1888, shows a distinct change in Van
Gogh's self-image. The frenzy of the brush-work has subsided; Van Gogh's
figure takes up most of the picture surface, looking larger and
sturdier than in previous self-portraits, and radiating a dogged
determination.' p48
'In the Midi, Van Gogh's years of relentless self-instruction began to
bring substantial results, enabling him to paint with an astonishing
facility and rapidity; and this in turn made it possible for him to get
onto canvas the special emotion created by each subject before the
feeling became dulled' p52
This quote is important, it explains that Van
Gogh didn't spend a long time on his paintings and how the emotion was
able to get across more accurately in a painting.
'he often painted a single subject many times, thus increasing the element of premediation in his approach' p52
Perhaps
this throws some doubt into the pot. If he chooses the best painting,
who knows what small details can be changed to transform the entire
aesthetic? Linking here very much to photography. And multiple shots =
multiple image selection choice.
'Instead
of making preparatory sketches and studies in orthodox fashion, Van
Gogh 'drew' directly onto the canvas with his loaded brush, sometimes
even squeezing the paint directly onto the surface from the tube.' p52
"I let myself go without thinking of any rules"
If
I take this to be accurate, then perhaps there will be more fluidity in
his work if this applies to his self-portraiture... perhaps it only
applies from the self-portraits in this point onwards, 1888. The
previous concern can still apply however, the multiple production of
works.
Exchange between Van Gogh, Guaguin and Bernard
Guaguin painting 'Les miserables' - portrait of the artist as a victim to society p57
If
this is a painting to portray something this this can't be an accurate
representation as that is a subjective issue is it not? of being a
victim? Perhaps if it was of ones emotion, such as being in love /
feeling melancholy then, this is more objective because we would be the
foremost authority on how we feel.
'Perhaps
inspired by this self-dramataziation, Van Gogh painted the most bizarre
of his self-portraits, which he described as 'almost colourless', and
dedicated it to Guaguin. Gaunt, slant-eyed and shaven-headed, the Van
Gogh of this painting radiates a fanatical intensity, his strangeness
emphasized by placing him in front of a pale green background. In a
letter to Theo, Vincent explained that the portrait was, like Guaguins,
an exaggeration of his own personality, intended to represent the artist
as an utterly undedicated figure - 'a bonze [buddhist monk], a simple
worshipper of the eternal Buddha'.' p57
This
is interesting, this is the first instance of a subverted reality,
mocking perhaps, exaggerated to an extreme which is not an accurate
representation but a representation of an exaggerated personality.
Correlation between events and Van Gogh's attacks noticed with events in Theo's family life
One just after he announced the engagement
another serious after pregnancy revealed 10th July 1889
experienced hallucinations, suicidal thoughts
'One of the self-portraits he painted after his recovery, in the autumn
of 1889, is an almost glamorous image of the artist with brushes and
palette.'#35
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- rejected self portraits, ones whose authenticity can't be determined.
- Due to the considerable number of self-portraits by Van Gogh's, for a valid identification reference is to the numbers of Jacob Baart de la Faille's Catalogue raisonné (1928 & 1970) (F) or to Jan Hulsker's updated compilation (1978, revised 1989) (JH).
NEW RESOURCE - http://www.bbc.co.uk/archive/van_gogh/
" " " - http://ezinearticles.com/?Analysis-of-Self-Portraits-of-Vincent-van-Gogh&id=305568
interesting - could be brother Theo - http://www.livescience.com/14738-vangogh-portrait-brother.html
Simon Johnson
www.thephilosophicalphotographer.co.uk
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