Self-Portrait with a Straw Hat

Come close enough to separate the strokes around the eyes. Red, green, blue and yellow marks sit beside one another, then gather into a face as you take in the whole head. Vincent van Gogh changes their direction around the cheeks and beard. Across the straw hat, the strokes follow its broad curve. He painted this self-portrait in Paris in 1887, while studying new approaches to color and brushwork. Using his own face gave him a sitter when money for models was limited. Here he leaves the separate marks plainly visible. The blue coat has long, slanting strokes, while smaller touches gather around the mouth and nose. Some areas of the canvas show through between them. The canvas had already served another purpose. On its other side is an earlier peasant study called The Potato Peeler. The reused support holds two stages of his painting life, with a rural laborer painted on one face and the artist beneath his straw hat on the other.