Self Portraits Reveal Poor Life of Van Gogh

In his whole life, Van Gogh created more than 30 self-portraits. According to the record, he came Paris in 1886 and developed a great interest in the Monet's French impressionism painting techniques. He tried to adopt the vivid colors and free styles of impressionism painters. However, because he had no money to hire models, he only took himself as the model and drew in one of the most inexpensive materials. At that time, Van Gogh was only 34 years old and the figure in this self portrait looked like more than 50 years old. It was obviously that the painter's living conditions were very undesirable.

In the history of western art world, even in Holland, Van Gogh was not the greatest artist (Rembrandt was the Holland's greatest artist). But for this lunatic who shot himself at the age of 37, his celebrity effect was beyond the art world.

Self Portrait with Straw Hat and Pipe 1887

Self Portrait with Straw Hat and Pipe 1887

Self Portrait was painted in 1887 and was thought to be the representative works through the art career of Van Gogh. According to the introduction of curator of Amsterdam Mr. Taco Dibbits, at the age of 34, Van Gogh fell in love with the bar manager who was 15 years older than him. But this relationship did not last long because of their constant quarrels. When drawing this painting, he purposely put on the hat and wore the jacket and scarves to show his urban resident status. But obviously he was not satisfied with the clothes, which could be seen from his serious eye look.

It was reported that at that time Van Gogh's economic situation was not good, and his painting materials were also quite inexpensive. This self portrait was painted on cardboard, which created gorgeous colors only by the use of painting pigments.

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