Head of a Skeleton with a Burning Cigarette
Vincent van Gogh (1853 - 1890), Antwerp, January-February 1886
oil on canvas, 32.3 cm x 24.8 cm
Credits (obliged to state): Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (Vincent van Gogh Foundation)
From 4 October 2024 until 26 January 2025 this painting is on view in the exhibition Gothic Modern. From Darkness to Light at the Atheneum Art Museum, Helsinki, Finland.
This skeleton with a lit cigarette in its mouth is a juvenile joke. Van Gogh painted it in early 1886, while studying at the art academy in Antwerp. The painting shows that he had a good command of anatomy.
Drawing skeletons was a standard exercise at the academy, but painting them was not part of the curriculum. He must have made this painting at some other time, between or after his lessons.
- F-number
- F0212
- JH-number
- JH0999
- Object number
- s0083V1962
- Dimensions
- 32.3 cm x 24.8 cm, 46.6 cm x 39 cm, 6.6 cm
- Provenance
- With his brother Theo van Gogh, Paris, after February 1886; 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)
Vienna, Albertina, Gothic Modern 1875-1925, 25 September 2025-11 January 2026
Oslo, Nasjonalmuseet for kunst, arkitektur og design (National Museum), Gothic Modern. Fra mørke til lys, 20 February-15 June 2025
Helsinki, Ateneum Art Museum, Gothic Modern. Pimeydestä valoon, 4 October 2024-26 January 2025
Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum, Van Gogh aan het werk, 1 May 2013-13 January 2014
Amsterdam, Hermitage Amsterdam, Vincent. Het Van Gogh Museum in de Hermitage Amsterdam, 29 September 2012-25 April 2013
Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum, Van Goghs brieven. De kunstenaar aan het woord, 9 October 2009-3 January 2010
Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum, Gogh Modern. Vincent van Gogh en de hedendaagse kunst, 27 June-12 October 2003, no. zonder nr.
Los Angeles, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Van Gogh's Van Goghs. Masterpieces from the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, 17 January-16 May 1999, no. 14
Washington, National Gallery of Art, Van Gogh's Van Goghs. Masterpieces from the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, 4 October 1998-3 January 1999, no. 14
Tokyo, Seiji Togo Memorial Yasuda Kasai Museum of Art, Vincent van Gogh and his time. Van Gogh & portraits from the Van Gogh Museum and the H.W. Mesdag Museum, 14 September-13 November 1994, no. 2
Tokyo, Setagaya Art Museum, Vincent van Gogh and Japan, 4 April-24 May 1992, no. 2
Kyoto, National Museum of Modern Art (Kyoto), Vincent van Gogh and Japan, 18 February-29 March 1992, no. 2
Mons, Museum voor Schoone Kunsten, Van Gogh et la Belgique, 3 October-30 November 1980, no. 26
London, Hayward Gallery, Vincent van Gogh. Paintings and Drawings of the Vincent van Gogh Foundation Amsterdam, 23 October 1968-12 January 1969, no. 58
Marseille, Musée Cantini, Expressionnisme Allemand 1900-1920, 17 May-15 August 1965, no. 1
Bordeaux, Galerie des Beaux-Arts (Bordeaux), Bosch, Goya et le fantastique, 20 May-31 July 1957, no. 278
Amsterdam, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, Vincent van Gogh, 24 June-September 1955, no. 64
Antwerp, Zaal Comité voor Artistieke Werking, Vincent van Gogh, 7 May-19 June 1955, no. 125
Toledo (Ohio), Toledo Museum of Art, Vincent van Gogh 1853-1890, 7 March-30 April 1954, no. 53
Philadelphia (Pennsylvania), Philadelphia Museum of Art, Vincent van Gogh 1853-1890, 2 January-28 February 1954, no. 53
Saint Louis, City Art Museum of Saint Louis, Vincent van Gogh 1853-1890, 17 October-13 December 1953, no. 53
The Hague, Gemeentemuseum Den Haag, Vincent van Gogh. Collectie ir. V.W. van Gogh, 12 October 1948-10 January 1949, no. 39
Utrecht, Vereeniging Voor de Kunst, Tentoonstelling van schilderijen door Vincent van Gogh, 1 May-5 June 1929, no. 8
Frankfurt am Main, Galerie Hermes, [titel onbekend], January 1911
Berlin, Kunstsalon Paul Cassirer, III. Ausstellung. Vincent van Gogh 1853-1890, 25 October-20 November 1910, no. 3
Beeldende Kunst, p. 27, 28
Beeldende Kunst, p. 27, 28
