Self-Portrait, 1887
Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890)
Oil on Pasteboard, 19 X 14 cm
Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam
(Vincent van Gogh Stichting)
F 267

Van Gogh painted over twenty self-portraits during his Paris period, including this work executed sketchily on cardboard. It was thus he practiced portraiture: with his own image in the mirror. While there were many portrait photographers, Van Gogh believed there would always be a demand for portrait painters. As he had written Theo from Antwerp: SÀPainted portraits have a life of their own, something that comes from the roots of the painter?s soul, which a machine cannot touch. The more often people look at photos, the more they will feel this, it seems to me.?