Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear

1889 self-portrait by Vincent van Gogh

Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear

Artist	Vincent van Gogh
Year	January 1889
Medium	oil on canvas
Dimensions	60 cm × 49 cm (24 in × 19 in)
Location	Courtauld Gallery, London

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.

About the painting

In this self-portrait, Van Gogh portrays himself in a blue cap with black fur and a green overcoat with a bandage covering his ear and extending under his chin. Behind him is an open window, a canvas on an easel, with a few indistinguishable marks, as well as a Japanese woodblock print, Geishas in a Landscape made by Satō Torakiyo in the 1870s.

The fur cap pictured in the portrait serves as a memory of the difficult working circumstances he encountered in January 1889. The cap had been recently purchased to keep his heavy bandage in place and protect him from the winter cold.

Van Gogh used Impasto painting strokes, a technique where paint is laid thickly on a surface to show marks of the Painting knife, to give the composition more energy and passion. He was inspired by Adolphe Monticelli's use of impasto in his own paintings as illustrated by the letter he wrote to his brother, Theo, in 1888.

Van Gogh had moved from Paris to Arles to establish a community of supportive artists called the Studio of the South. After renting four rooms in The Yellow House, he invited Paul Gauguin to join him.

On evening of 23 December 1888, Gauguin threatened to leave and Van Gogh approached him with a razor. Later that night, he sliced off his own left ear, which is not apparent in the portrait since he used a mirror to paint it, making it seem like the right ear is bandaged instead, and brought it to a prostitute in Arles.

History

In a 17 January 1889 letter to his brother Theo, Van Gogh mentioned he had made a new self-portrait, which is believed to be this one.

At the time of Van Gogh's death, this painting was in the possession of Julien (Père) Tanguy, although it was unclear how he had obtained it. Tanguy had posed twice for Van Gogh in 1887. It was exhibited in Paris 1901 and 1905 in a major Van Gogh retrospective. In 1928 Samuel Courtauld purchased it and it is currently in the collection of the Courtauld Gallery in London.

The Japanese Art Influence

The art of woodblock printing in Japan was of great influence for Van Gogh as he was a big collector of many Japanese pieces. Throughout his lifetime, he had collected hundreds of Japanese prints, including Geishas in a Landscape by Torakiyo Sato, which was then used as inspiration for the copy in the background of this portrait.

Van Gogh's interest in Japanese art guided him to modernize his own art style. He enjoyed the bold colors and spatial effects of the Japanese prints which prompted him to start using them in all of his work including this portrait.

References

Jonathan Jones (9 September 2000). "Self-Portrait With a Bandaged Ear, Van Gogh (1889)". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 February 2015.
"Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear Vincent van Gogh, January 1889". Van Gogh Museum. Retrieved 14 March 2024.
Cooper, Douglas (1957). "Two Japanese Prints from Vincent van Gogh's Collection". The Burlington Magazine. 99 (651): 204–198. ISSN 0007-6287. JSTOR 872200.
"Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear". The Courtauld. Retrieved 25 March 2024.
^ "Did Van Gogh use impasto?". Van Gogh reproductions, hand-painted in oil on canvas | Van Gogh Studio. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
^ "Van Gogh e-book for free | Van Gogh Studio". Van Gogh reproductions, hand-painted in oil on canvas | Van Gogh Studio. Retrieved 22 March 2024.
"Behind the scenes in Conservation: The unfashionable artist who inspired Van Gogh | Behind the scenes | National Gallery, London". www.nationalgallery.org.uk. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
"Van Gogh and Gauguin: The Studio of the South". The Art Institute of Chicago. Retrieved 14 March 2024.
Paintings, Authors: Department of European. "Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890) | Essay | The Metropolitan Museum of Art | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History". The Met’s Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. Retrieved 14 March 2024.
"South of France". Van Gogh Museum. Retrieved 14 March 2024.
"Vincent van Gogh - The Yellow House (The Street)". Van Gogh Museum. Retrieved 14 March 2024.
"Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear". The Courtauld. Retrieved 25 March 2024.
"South of France". Van Gogh Museum. Retrieved 14 March 2024.
"File:Le Forum Républicain (Arles) - 30 December 1888 - Vincent van Gogh ear incident.jpg - Misplaced Pages". commons.wikimedia.org. 20 January 2014. Retrieved 14 March 2024.
"Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear". The Courtauld. Retrieved 25 March 2024.
"736 (740, 571): To Theo van Gogh. Arles, Thursday, 17 January 1889. - Vincent van Gogh Letters". www.vangoghletters.org. Retrieved 14 March 2024.
"Vincent Van Gogh, Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear". Courtauld Institute of Art. Retrieved 30 March 2020.
"Van Gogh a fan of Japan: ANSWERS TO". ProQuest. ProQuest 2267648371.
^ "Inspiration from Japan". vangoghmuseum-prod.azurewebsites.net. Retrieved 26 March 2024.
Cooper, Douglas (1957). "Two Japanese Prints from Vincent van Gogh's Collection". The Burlington Magazine. 99 (651): 204–198. ISSN 0007-6287. JSTOR 872200.

Vincent van Gogh

General

Groups of
works

Early works (1881–82)
Portraits (1881–1890)
Peasant Character Studies (1881–1885)
Van Gogh's family in his art (1881–1888)
Sien (1882–83)
Cottages (1883–1885)
Water Mill at Gennep (1884)
Still life paintings, Netherlands (1884–85)
Old Church Tower at Nuenen (1884–85)
Amsterdam (1885)
Wheat Fields (1885–1890)
Le Moulin de la Galette (1886)
Still life paintings, Paris (1886–87)
Montmartre (1886–87)
Self portraits (1886–1889)
Outskirts of Paris (1887)
Asnières (1887)
Seine (1887)
Japonaiserie (1887)
Sunflowers (1887–1889)
Trees and Undergrowth (1887–1890)
Copies by Vincent van Gogh (1887–1890)
Langlois Bridge at Arles (1888)
Saintes-Maries (1888)
Boats du Rhône (1888)
Décoration for the Yellow House (1888)
The Roulin Family (1888–89)
Hospital in Arles (1888–89)
Flowering Orchards (1888–89)
Almond Blossoms (1888–1890)
Paintings of Children (1888–1890)
The Wheat Field (1889)
Reaper (1889)
Olive Trees (1889)
Wheat Fields (1889)
Butterflies (1889–90)
Saint-Paul Asylum, Saint-Rémy (1889–90)
Auvers size 30 canvases (1890)
Auvers Double-squares and Squares (1890)
Lost works by Vincent van Gogh
Display at Les XX, 1890

Oil paintings

1882	Beach at Scheveningen in Stormy Weather Girl in White in the Woods Lying Cow A Girl in the Street, Two Coaches in the Background
1883	Cows in the Meadow Farmhouses Among Trees Bulb Fields Landscape with a Church at Twilight Landscape with Dunes Footbridge across a Ditch Marshy Landscape A Wind-Beaten Tree Farm with Stacks of Peat Farmhouses in Loosduinen near The Hague at Twilight Three Figures near a Canal with Windmill
1884	Two Rats Congregation Leaving the Reformed Church in Nuenen The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen Landscape with Pollard Willows Cart with Black Ox Cart with Red and White Ox Lane in Autumn Water Mill at Opwetten Water Mill at Kollen Village at Sunset Avenue of Poplars in Autumn Avenue of Poplars at Sunset Head of an Old Farmer's Wife in a White Hat
1885	Still Life with Straw Hat The Potato Eaters Peasant Woman Digging Peasant Woman Digging Up Potatoes Skull of a Skeleton with Burning Cigarette
1886	Vase with Red Poppies Vase with White and Red Carnations The Kingfisher
1887	Poppy Flowers Wheat Field with a Lark View of Paris from Vincent's Room in the Rue Lepic Portrait of Père Tanguy A Woman Walking in a Garden Imperial Fritillaries in a Copper Vase Agostina Segatori Sitting in the Café du Tambourin Red Cabbages and Garlic
1888	Madame Roulin and Her Baby Landscape with Snow La Mousmé The Zouave Still Life: Vase with Oleanders The Night Café The Yellow House Van Gogh's Chair Café Terrace at Night Starry Night Over the Rhône Portrait of the Artist's Mother Bedroom in Arles The Painter on the Road to Tarascon Les Alyscamps A Lane in the Public Garden at Arles Falling Autumn Leaves L'Arlésienne The Red Vineyard Memory of the Garden at Etten (Ladies of Arles) Les Arènes Interior of a Restaurant in Arles A Lane near Arles Arles: View from the Wheat Fields Sunset at Montmajour Farmhouse in Provence Orchard with Cypresses
1889	Valley with Ploughman Seen from Above View of Arles, Flowering Orchards Portrait of Doctor Rey Crab on its Back Two Crabs Irises Lilac Bush The Starry Night The Gardener Self-portrait (1889) Self-portrait without beard Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear A Meadow in the Mountains: Le Mas de Saint-Paul A Road at Saint-Remy with Female Figure Enclosed Field with Peasant Rain Cypresses Wheat Field with Cypresses Green Wheat Field with Cypress The Diggers The Ravine of the Peyroulets Ivy View of the Asylum and Chapel of Saint-Rémy The Large Plane Trees The Mulberry Tree
1890	The Siesta Road with Cypress and Star At Eternity's Gate Thatched Cottages and Houses Portrait of Dr. Gachet Doctor Gachet's Garden in Auvers Houses at Auvers White House at Night Landscape with a Carriage and a Train Girl in White The Church at Auvers Daubigny's Garden Farms near Auvers The Cows The Town Hall at Auvers Blossoming Chestnut Branches Peasant Woman Against a Background of Wheat Still Life: Vase with Pink Roses Portrait of Adeline Ravoux Plain near Auvers Wheatfield Under Thunderclouds Wheatfield with Crows Prisoners' Round (after Gustave Doré) Tree Roots Landscape at Auvers in the Rain Poppy Field

Watercolours

Boy Cutting Grass with a Sickle (1881)
Meadows near Rijswijk and the Schenkweg (1882)
The 'Laakmolen' near The Hague (1882)
Church Pew with Worshippers (1882)
Woman on Her Deathbed (1883)
Landscape with Trees (1883)
Peatery in Drenthe (1883)
Landscape with Wheelbarrow (1883)
Drawbridge in Nieuw-Amsterdam (1883)
Breton Women (1888)
Old Vineyard with Peasant Woman (1890)

Drawings

Museums

Portrayals

Family

Cataloguers

Jacob Baart de la Faille (1928 and 1970; "F")
Jan Hulsker (1978, revised 1989; "JH")

Categories:

About the painting

History

The Japanese Art Influence

See also

References