Art Institute of ChicagoPublic domain

Self-Portrait

Vincent van Gogh · 1887

Analyst brief

What the record supports

Vincent van Gogh's "Self-Portrait" is an oil on artist's board, mounted on cradled panel, measuring 41 × 32.5 cm. Painted in 1887, this work is classified as an oil on board and is held within the Painting and Sculpture of Europe department. Vincent van Gogh was a Dutch painter (1853–1890).

The painting's provenance traces from the artist's sister-in-law, Johanna van Gogh-Bonger, who sold it through Frankfurter Kunstverein to Leonhard Tietz in February 1912. It descended to his son Alfred Tietz, before being sold to E. J. van Wisselingh and Co. in December 1933, then to Étienne Bignou later that month. It was transferred to Bignou Art Gallery, New York, and subsequently sold to Joseph Winterbotham by 1935, who later gifted it to the Art Institute in 1954.

"Self-Portrait" has been widely exhibited, with its first recorded exhibition at the Sonderbund Westdeutscher Kunstfreunde und Künstler in Cologne in 1912. Other notable exhibitions include those at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam (1930) and the Museum of Modern Art in New York (1935–1936). No auction price history is provided in the supplied data.

Generated from the catalogue fields shown on this page. Nartmad does not assert attributions, valuations or prices that no cited source supports.

Provenance

Ownership history

The artist’s sister-in-law, Johanna van Gogh-Bonger (died 1925), Amsterdam [this and the following according to Van Gogh-Bonger’s account book: "19/2 2-1912 'Kunstverein Frankfurt portret' 2942.50 [guilders]" and "95/15 2-1912 'ontvangen uit Frankfort Kunstverein voor portret' 2942.50 [guilders];" reproduced in Stolwijk and Veenenbos 2002, 54, 130]; sold through Frankfurter Kunstverein to Leonhard Tietz (died 1914), Cologne, Feb. 1912; by descent to his son, Alfred Tietz, Cologne, 1914 [Amsterdam 1930]; sold to E. J. van Wisselingh and Co., Amsterdam, Dec. 12, 1933 [this and the following according to the E. J. Van Wisselingh and Co. Stock Book, no. 5440, Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie, The Hague; copy in curatorial object file]; sold to Étienne Bignou (Bignou Art Gallery), Paris, Dec. 31, 1933; transferred to Bignou Art Gallery, New York [photograph of the painting, no. 2156, Bignou Gallery album, n.d., Frick Art Reference Gallery; copy in curatorial object file]; sold to Joseph Winterbotham (died 1953), Burlington, Vermont by 1935 [letter from Joseph Winterbotham to Robert Harshe, June 10, 1935; copy in curatorial object file]; given to the Art Institute, 1954.

Recorded by Art Institute of Chicago.

Exhibitions

Exhibition history

Cologne, Sonderbund Westdeutscher Kunstfreunde und Künstler, Internationale Kunstausstellung des Sonderbundes Westdeutscher Kunstfreunde und Künstler zu Cöln 1912, May 25–Sep. 30, 1912, cat. 11.
Berlin, Galerie Paul Cassirer, 10. Ausstellung, May–June 1914, cat. 28.
Frankfurt-am-Main, Galerie M. Goldschmidt, Vincent van Gogh, Mar. 15–Apr. 15, 1928, cat. 18.
Berlin, Galerie Paul Cassirer, Vincent van Gogh: Gemälde, Jan. 1928, cat. 29.
Amsterdam, Stedelijk Museum, Vincent van Gogh en zijn Tijdgenooten, Sep. 6–Nov. 2, 1930, cat. 25, ill. frontispiece.
Amsterdam, E. J. van Wisselingh and Co., Exposition d’art française: Peinture du XIXme et Xxme siècle, Jan. 7–Feb. 4, 1933, cat. 13.
Amsterdam, E. J. van Wisselingh and Co., Zomer Tentoonstelling van Hollandsche en Fransche Schilderkunst der XIXe en Xxe eeuw, July–Aug. 1933, cat. 32.
New York, Museum of Modern Art, Vincent van Gogh, Nov. 5, 1935–Jan. 5, 1936, cat. 20.
New York, Wildenstein and Co., Great Portraits from Impressionism to Modernism: a Loan Exhibition for the Benefit of the Public Education Association, Mar. 1–29, 1938, cat. 45.
Boston, Museum of Fine Arts, Art in New England: Paintings, Drawings, Prints From Private Collections in New England, June 9–Sep. 10, 1939, cat. 53.
New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, French Painting From David to Toulouse-Lautrec: Loans From French and American Museums and Collections, Feb. 6–Mar. 26, 1941, cat. 64A.
New York, Wildenstein and Co., The Art and Life of Vincent van Gogh: Loan Exhibition in Aid of American and Dutch War Relief, Oct. 6–Nov. 7, 1943, cat. 22.

Literature

Published references

J[acob]-B[aart] de la Faille, L'œuvre de Vincent van Gogh, Catalogue raisonné vol. 1-2 (Paris: G. Van Oest, 1928), vol. 1, cat. no. 345; vol. 2, fig. 345.
Martha Davidson, “Impressionist and Later Portraits,” Art News 36, no. 23 (1938): 24, 10 (ill.).
Jack Levin, “Homage to Vincent,” Art News 17, no. 8 (1948): 26 (ill.).
Katharina Bromig-Kolleritz von Novisancz, “Die Selbstbildnisse Vincent van Gogh: Versuh einer kunsthistorischen Erfassung der Darstellungen” (PhD diss., Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Munich, 1954), 46–48, 101–102.
Art Institute of Chicago, Annual Report 1954–1955 (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 1955), n.p. (ill.).
Art Institute of Chicago, An Illustrated Guide to the Collections of The Art Institute of Chicago (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 1956), 36.
Abraham Marie Hammacher, Van Gogh Self-Portraits, exh. cat. (London: Merlborough Fine Arts Gallery, 1960), fig. d.
Art Institute of Chicago, Paintings in The Art Institute of Chicago: A Catalogue of the Picture Collection (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 1961), 181–82, 331 (ill.).
Frank Th. Gribling, A Detailed Catalogue with Full Documentation of 272 Works by Vincent van Gogh Belonging to the Collection of the State Museum Kröller-Müller (Otterlo: Kröller-Müller Museum, 1966), under no. 198.
Abraham Marie Hammacher, Genius and Disaster: The Ten Creative Years of Vincent van Gogh (New York: H. N. Abrams, 1968), 37 (ill.), 183.
Fritz Erpel, Die Selbstbildnisse Vincent van Goghs (Berlin: Henschelverlag und Gesellschaft, 1963), no. 22 (ill.); English trans. Greenwich, CT: New York Graphic Society, 1969, no. 22 (ill.).
Jacob-Baart de la Faille, The Works of Vincent van Gogh, His Paintings and Drawings (New York: Reynal, 1970), 162-63, 165 (ill.) F345.

Comparables