Portrait of Bernard's Grandmother

Bernard’s grandmother was in mourning when he painted her. She had just lost her husband. She had come to live with the artist’s family in Asnières and often posed for him. Her apparently arrogant expression is due simply to the artist’s viewpoint. Because Bernard was sitting slightly lower, she appears to be looking down on us. Her closed eye was blind.

Van Gogh swapped one of his own self-portraits for this painting. He was full of praise for it. Later, he wrote to Bernard how moving he found its air of steady self-assurance. ‘You’ve never been closer to Rembrandt, my dear chap.’