VAN GOGH MUSEUM, Self-Portraits

Between 1885 and 1889, Vincent Van Gogh produced more than 43 self-portraits, which offer an overview of his brief, intense existence; most of them date to the period when his inner suffering was reaching its peak.

These paintings are conditioned by important events in the artist’s life. The years he spent in Nuenen ended dramatically: his father died of a heart attack after a violent argument with Vincent, and the local parish priest accused him of raping a young woman who had posed as a model for him.

Thus, in 1886, he moved to Paris, where his brother Theo managed an art gallery, and embarked on a period of frenzied artistic activity, the last in his short life.

It was during this time in Paris that he painted one of his most famous works, Self-Portrait with Grey Felt Hat, with a luminosity and composure that owe much to the cultural influences of the city....