Self Portrait with Grey Felt Hat

1887 Vincent Van Gogh. Oil on cotton. 44.5cm x 37.2cm. Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam

Van Gogh painted 36 self portraits in a period of ten years. They serve as an interesting historical record tracking the development of his work. Fellow Dutchman, Rembrandt is the only other artist to surpass this number of self portraits, totting up almost one hundred in his lifetime. Read our Rembrandt portraits blog here.  

Van Gogh painted this self-portrait in the winter of 1887 when he had been living in Paris for nearly two years. He was heavily influenced by Seurat and Signac who had developed a new technique whereby paint was applied systematically in small adjacent dots, known as pointillism or divisionism. He devoted much of his time studying this technique and applied it in his own unique style. Rather than adhering to their systematic approach, Van Gogh used different brushstrokes in different areas of the painting. You will notice scattered, smaller dots in the background and bolder, graphic marks to represent texture in other areas.

In the treatment of the face and head, the brushstrokes are directional, following the planes of the face to convey the structure of the head and facial hair. You can clearly see his use of complimentary colours which intensify one another; the red and green in the face and orange and blue elsewhere. Where we now see a lot of blue, there would have been more purple tones, but the pigment has faded making the contrast with yellow less powerful. It is often commented upon that he has created a kind of halo effect with the brush marks around the head.

It’s interesting to see Van Gogh dressed in smart Parisian attire, as a man of the city.

Enter our World Watercolour Month Competition

Dutch art materials giant, Royal Talens has collaborated with the Van Gogh Museum to create a watercolour pocket set. The palette of 12 colours was inspired by this painting. Now you can create your own version of Self Portrait with Grey Felt Hat!

To win a Van Gogh Pocket Box Set simply head to our social media pages and answer the question below. Use the hashtag #worldwatercolourmonth  

“What were watercolour pans originally called?”  

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