Head of a Man
Vincent van Gogh (1853 - 1890), Nuenen, December 1884-January 1885
pencil, pen, brush and coarse brush (?) and ink, on paper, 14.8 cm x 10.4 cm
Credits (obliged to state): Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (Vincent van Gogh Foundation)
This is just a small drawing – about the size of a postcard. Van Gogh signed it at bottom left, something he did only when he was completely satisfied with a piece. Was he hoping it might find a use as a magazine illustration? He often remarked that such illustrations might one day be a good source of income.
If you look closely at on the man’s cheek, you can see the pencil lines of the preparatory sketch. Van Gogh has drawn over them in ink. The murky background is enlivened by a novel kind of spatter technique.
- F-number
- F1198
- JH-number
- JH0564
- Object number
- d0274V1962
- Dimensions
- 14.8 cm x 10.4 cm
- Provenance
- Sent by the artist from Nuenen to his brother Theo van Gogh, Paris, sometime between December 1884 and January 1885; after his death on 25 January 1891, inherited by his widow, Jo van Gogh-Bonger, and their son, Vincent Willem van Gogh, Paris; administered until her death on 2 September 1925 by Jo van Gogh-Bonger, Bussum/Amsterdam/Laren; transferred by Vincent Willem van Gogh, Laren, to the Vincent van Gogh Foundation, Amsterdam, 10 July 1962; agreement concluded between the Vincent van Gogh Foundation and the State of the Netherlands, in which the preservation and management of the collection, and its placing in the Rijksmuseum Vincent van Gogh, to be realized in Amsterdam, is entrusted to the State, 21 July 1962; given on loan until the opening of the museum on 2 June 1973 to the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; on permanent loan to the Rijksmuseum Vincent van Gogh from 2 June 1973 and at the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, since 1 July 1994.
- artist
- Vincent van Gogh
- Credits (obliged to state)
- Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (Vincent van Gogh Foundation)
Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum, De Aardappeleters: misser of meesterwerk?, 8 October 2021-13 February 2022
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