Portrait of a One-Eyed Man, 1888
Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890)
Oil on Canvas, 56 X 36.5 cm
Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam
(Vincent van Gogh Stichting)
F 532

In the mental hospital at Saint-Rémy, Van Gogh gradually began to feel better. Contact with his fellow patients had helped his fear of madness to fade. SÀAt the moment I am working on a portrait of one of the patients here. It is odd that if one is with them for a time, and has grown used to them, one no longer thinks them mad,? he wrote to his mother. The patient he referred to was this one-eyed man, whom he painted with broad brushstrokes. His coat is nearly the same color as the background and even in the face, the green recurs.