Portrait of Eugène Benon

Puvis de Chavannes portrayed his good friend Eugène Benon in a domestic setting, engrossed in a popular novel. Benon’s farsightedness forced him to lean back and hold the book at a distance.

Van Gogh admired Puvis de Chavannes. He saw this painting in Paris at the end of 1887 and wrote about it two years later in a letter to his brother Theo: ‘As to figure, the portrait of a man by Puvis de Chavannes has always remained an ideal for me.’ The casual nature of the portrait combined with Van Gogh’s passion for literature contributed to his appreciation of the work.

Van Gogh had a phenomenal visual memory. Three years after seeing this painting, he incorporated similar novels, as well as a glass with flowers, into a portrait he made of his friend Dr Gachet.