Object Image

Self-Portrait

Self–portraiture constituted a significant element of Gauguin's production, particularly in 1888 and 1889. Gauguin's interest was prompted in part by Vincent van Gogh's 1888 portrait series including La Mousmé, which Gauguin knew from his correspondence with Van Gogh and his brother Theo. In addition, Van Gogh hoped to establish an artists' colony in the south that could be analogous to Gauguin's circle in Brittany and proposed an exchange of self–portraits. Gauguin's only known statements about his self–portraiture concern a work similar to the National Gallery’s Self–Portrait and thus have relevance. Gauguin refers to "the face of an outlaw... with an inner nobility and gentleness," a face th...
1889
Oil on wood
79.2 x 51.3cm
1963.10.150
Image and text © National Gallery of Art, 2020

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National Gallery of Art
Permanent collection

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