This important publication accompanies the first ever exhibition devoted to Vincent
van Gogh's self-portraits across his entire career. The exhibition at the Courtauld
Gallery and accompanying catalogue feature world-famous and lesser known works
from the great artist.
The myth of Van Gogh today is linked as much to his extraordinary life as it is to his stunning paintings. His biography has often shaped the way that his self-portraits have been (mis)understood. Van Gogh. Self-Portraits reconsiders this aspect of his production and places the artist's self-representation in context to reveal the role it plays in his oeuvre. It also explores the power and profound emotion of these highly personal paintings.
Van Gogh. Self-Portraits is the first time this theme has been exclusively addressed.
Self-portraits painted during Van Gogh's time in Paris (February 1886 - February 1888)
have been the subject of two exhibitions (in 1960 at Marlborough Fine Arts in London
and in 1995 at the Kunsthalle in Hamburg) but never has the full chronological range
been explored. The exhibition at The Courtauld Gallery features paintings from both the Parisian and Provençal periods. It brings together half of Van Gogh's thirty-five known self-portraits to examine the ways the artist approached this particular subject-matter. On a practical level, painting himself provided Van Gogh with the cheapest and most patient of models and represented an important conduit for stylistic experimentation. He also used self-portraiture as an homage to his illustrious Dutch predecessor Rembrandt, as well as a way of fashioning his own identity and presenting himself to the outside world.
Of particular interest is the striking way the evolution of Van Gogh's self-representation
over the short years of his artistic activity can be seen as a microcosm of his development
as a painter.
In addition to the world-famous Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear in The Courtauld's
collection, the exhibition showcases a group of major masterpieces brought together
from international collections, including the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, the
Musée d'Orsay in Paris, the Art Institute of Chicago and the National Gallery of Art in
Washington, D.C. among others. This beautifully illustrated catalogue includes detailed entries on each work, an appendix illustrating all of Van Gogh's self-portraits and three insightful essays on the theme.
Le souvenir des grands artistes se perpétue souvent grâce à une seule oeuvre, qui conjugue pour ainsi dire en elle l'ensemble de leurs qualités artistiques. Chez Léonard de Vinci, il s'agit de La Joconde, chez Rembrandt de La ronde de nuit et chez Van Gogh des Tournesols. En réalité, Van Gogh a peint pas moins de onze natures mortes mettant ces fleurs en scène, dont les cinq plus célèbres ont vu le jour pendant sa période arlésienne. Que représentait ce motif à ses yeux ? Le tournesol revêtait-il une forte dimension symbolique ou était-il simplement prétexte à des expérimentations inédites sur la couleur ? Dans cet ouvrage, Louis van Tilborgh évoque l'une des quêtes de Van Gogh, celle d'un art profondément humain et consolateur, et le rôle joué par le tournesol dans cette démarche.
A landmark publication tracing the final months of Gogh's life.
Van Gogh in Auvers-sur-Oise: His Final Months offers a unique and impressive overview of the paintings and drawings that Vincent van Gogh created during the last seventy days of his life. He produced no fewer than seventy-four paintings and over thirty drawings in the course of the intense, productive period leading up to his self-inflicted death on 29 July 1890. While the Portrait of Dr Gachet, The Church at Auvers and Wheatfield with Crows are numbered among his greatest masterpieces, this part of his oeuvre is otherwise less known - unfairly so - than the sunny landscapes he painted in the south of France.
The book follows the artist from his arrival in Auvers-Sur-Oise, where he set to work full of hope and with fresh ambitions, through to his final weeks. Essays by leading Van Gogh specialists highlight his artistic ambitions and mental state during this final phase; his exploration of the Auvers landscape; the flower still-lifes, portraits and panoramic landscapes he painted there; the role played by his drawings; and his artistic reputation at the time of his death and in the years immediately afterwards. In addition to all the Auvers paintings, the book is richly illustrated with drawings, sketches, historical photographs and detailed maps of the places Van Gogh worked. Also featured are related works by contemporaries and predecessors whom he admired.
