Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear

Maker

(artists)
1853-1890

Title

Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear

Date of Production

1889

Medium

oil on canvas

Dimensions

Height: 60.5 cm (canvas)
Width: 50 cm (canvas)

Accession Number

P.1948.SC.175

Mode of Acquisition

Samuel Courtauld, bequest, 1948

Credit

The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)

Location

On display

Keywords







Label Text

Paul Gauguin joined Van Gogh in Arles in November 1888, in order to paint together in what Van Gogh called the ‘studio of the south’, but they quickly started to quarrel. After an argument on 23 December, Van Gogh mutilated his right ear. He was admitted to hospital, and Gauguin returned to Paris.
This self-portrait was one of the first works Van Gogh painted after this incident. He seems to have thought that the act of painting would help him recover his mental equilibrium.
Van Gogh wears rough outdoor clothing. Behind him are an easel with a scarcely worked painting, and a print he owned by the Japanese artist Sato Torakiyo (dating from the 1870s). The picture could be a defiant statement of his determination to continue painting

Provenance

Père Tanguy, Paris; Comte A de La Rochefoucauld, Paris; Paul Rosenberg, Paris; purchased by Samuel Courtauld, October 1928; Samuel Courtauld Bequest 1948.

Exhibition History

Van Gogh's Self-Portraits, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 03/02/2022-08/05/2022

In the Picture: Portraying the artist, Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, 21/02/2020-30/08/2020

Part of general displays, Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, 01/08/2019-01/09/2020 ...More

The Courtauld Collection. A Vision for Impressionism, Louis Vuitton Foundation, Paris, 20/02/2019-17/06/2019

Part of general displays, Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, 25/06/2018-01/02/2019

Van Gogh and Japan, Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, 23/03/2018-24/06/2018

Portrait of the Artist as ..., The Courtauld Gallery, London, 26/06/2012-22/07/2012

Into the 20th century - New Displays at the Courtauld, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 10/10/2002

National Gallery (to be displayed with permanent collection), National Gallery, London, 01/09/1997-01/06/1998

Van Gogh, Tate Gallery & London & England, 1947 ...Less

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