NARRATOR:
Vincent van Gogh based this portrait of his aging mother on a black and white photograph. In a letter from October 1888, he wrote to his brother Theo:
VAN GOGH [ACTOR]:
"I am doing a portrait of mother for myself. I cannot stand the colorless photograph, and I am trying to do one in harmony of color, as I see her in my memory. Ah, what portraits could be made from nature with photography and painting! I always hope that we are still to have a great revolution in portraiture."
NARRATOR:
Though van Gogh transcribed his mother's features faithfully, he rendered them with expressive brushwork and unsettling color. Hair and skin are full of greens and yellows, and lips are accentuated in red to echo the tones of hat and dress. The vibrant background highlights the green in her eyes and the intensity of her gaze, creating a timeless portrait. Van Gogh said:
VAN GOGH [ACTOR]:
"I want to paint men and women with that something of the eternal which the halo used to symbolize, and which we now seek to give by the actual radiance and vibrancy of our coloring."
Portrait of the Artist's Mother
October 1888
Vincent van Gogh (Dutch, 1853-1890)
On View
In September 1888, Van Gogh, living in the south of France, received from his sister Wilhelmina, still in the Netherlands, a photograph of their mother. He set out to make a painting after it, explaining, “I’m working on a portrait of Mother for myself, because the black-and-white photograph annoys me so.” Although he had hoped to enliven the sitter’s face with color, the resulting portrait is somewhat pale and sickly in tone. This has partly to do with the specific pigments Van Gogh used (his reds have faded with time), but the artist also confessed his dissatisfaction with the work, writing to his sister, “I don’t like Mother’s picture enormously.”
Details
- Artist Name: Vincent van Gogh (Dutch, 1853-1890)
- Title: Portrait of the Artist's Mother
- Date: October 1888
- Culture: Dutch
- Medium: Oil on canvas
- Dimensions: 16 x 12 3/4 in. (40.6 x 32.4 cm)
- Credit Line: Norton Simon Art Foundation
- Accession Number: M.1968.32.P
- Copyright: © Norton Simon Art Foundation
Object Information
[Ambroise Vollard, Paris].
Ann Rosenberg, Paris.
E. Druet, Paris, sold October 1904 to;
[Paul Cassirer, Berlin, sold May 1905 to];
Carl Moll (1861-1945), Vienna, until at least 1914.
[Paul Rosenberg, Paris, by 1928, still in 1937].
Reverend Theodore Pitcairn, Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, by 1938 (sale, London, Christie’s, 28 June 1968, lot 112, to);
Norton Simon Art Foundation.
Ann Rosenberg, Paris.
E. Druet, Paris, sold October 1904 to;
[Paul Cassirer, Berlin, sold May 1905 to];
Carl Moll (1861-1945), Vienna, until at least 1914.
[Paul Rosenberg, Paris, by 1928, still in 1937].
Reverend Theodore Pitcairn, Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, by 1938 (sale, London, Christie’s, 28 June 1968, lot 112, to);
Norton Simon Art Foundation.
Vincent van Gogh
- Paris, Bernheim-Jeune, 1901-03-15 to 1901-03-31
Vincent van Gogh
- Paul Cassirer (Gallery), 1914-05 to 1914-06
Die führenden Meister der französischen Kunst im XIX Jahrhundert
- Vienna, Secession, 1925 to
[on loan]
- Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, 1926 to
The Art and Life of Vincent van Gogh, Loan Exhibition in Aid of American and Dutch War Relief
- Wildenstein & Co. (New York, N.Y.), 1943-10-06 to 1943-11-07
Vincent van Gogh
- Munich, Haus der Kunst, 1956-10 to 1956-12
The Pitcairn Collection
- Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1960 to
Recent acquisitions by the Norton Simon Museum of Art
- Portland, The Portland Art Museum, 1968-11-12 to 1969-03-09
[on loan]
- Princeton University Art Museum, 1972 to
Les maîtres de l'art indépendant 1895-1937
- Paris, Petit Palais, 1937-06 to 1937-10
Vincent van Gogh: Painter, Printmaker, Collector
- Norton Simon Museum, 1990-04-19 to 1992-01-12
Excellence: Art from the University Community
- University of California, Berkeley Art Museum, 1970-11-06 to 1971-01-09
Selections from the Norton Simon, Inc. Museum of Art
- Princeton University Art Museum, 1972-12-03 to 1974-07-17
Gaze: Portraiture After Ingres
- Norton Simon Museum, 2009-10-30 to 2010-04-05
Reinstallation of South Wing
- Norton Simon Museum, 1993-10-07 to 1995-08-13
Three Centuries of French Art: Selections from The Norton Simon, Inc. Museum of Art and The Norton Simon Foundation_1
- California Palace of the Legion of Honor, 1973-05-03 to 1976-06-15
Art News, p. 28
Le Monde, p. vii
The Connoisseur, no. 6 p. 37
Palmer, L., International Fine Art Collector, p. 72
International Art Market, pp. 145, 149
Apollo, p. xviii
Schuster, A., New York Times,
Princeton Alumni Weekly, p. 12
L'Amour de l'art, p. 30
Steadman, David W., Art Journal, fig. 12 p. 38
Faille, J. B. de la, L'Oeuvre de Vincent van Gogh, catalogue raisonné, vol. I, no. F477; vol. II, pl. CXXX
Scherjon, W.; and Jos de Gruyter, Vincent van Gogh's Great Period, no. 104 p. 133
Faille, J. B. de la, Vincent van Gogh, no. H502 p. 357
Coquiot, Gustave, Vincent van Gogh, p. 313
Wildenstein & Co., The Art and Life of Vincent van Gogh, no. 33
Haus der Kunst, Vincent van Gogh 1853-1890, p. 35
Edo Tralbaut, Marc, Van Gogh, a Pictorial Biography, pp. 13, 132 (incorrectly identified)
Schurr, G., Realities, no. 7 pp. 20-21
Wallace, R., The World of van Gogh, 1853-1890, p. 8
Faille, J. B. de la, The Works of Vincent van Gogh, His Paintings and Drawings, F477 pp. 216-217
Glynn, E., The Print Collectors Newsletter, p. 89
Cornini, A., Egon Schiele's Portraits, fig. 45 pp. 38, 200
Treble, R., Van Gogh and His Art, pl. 66 p. 85
Steadman, David W., The Connoisseur, p. 223
Lecaldano, P., L'opera pittorica completa di Van Gogh, pp. 213-214
The Complete Letters of Vincent van Gogh, nos. 546, 548
Fagles, R., I, Vincent, Poems from the Pictures of Van Gogh, pp. 54-55
Rudine, W., Follies, p. 2
Hulsker, Jan, The Complete Van Gogh, no. 1600 pp. 368-369
Bernard, B., Vincent by Himself, p. 189
Abse, D. and J., Voices in the Gallery, pp. 98-99
Sutton, Peter C., A Guide to Dutch Art in America, fig. 320 p. 220
Wilson, P., The Christian Science Monitor, p. 20
Feilchenfeldt, Walter, Vincent van Gogh & Paul Cassirer, Berlin: The Reception of van Gogh in Germany from 1901-1914, no. F 447 pp. 19, 98
Crosman, C., The Artist's Mother: Portraits & Homages, p. 21
Masterpieces from the Norton Simon Museum, p. 165
Gedo, J., Portraits of the Artist, pp. 136-137
van Lindert, J.; and E. van Uitert, Vincent van Gogh en zijn portretten, fig. 67 p. 83
Arnold, M., Vincent van Gogh: Werk und Wirkung, fig. 70 pp. 152-154, 865
Sachs, Katherine, Van Gogh Face to Face: The Portraits, fig. 118 pp. 130-131
Le Monde,
Druick, Douglas and Peter Zegers, Van Gogh and Gauguin: The Studio of the South, fig. 62 pp. 200 - 203
Casa dei Carraresi, Treviso, L'impressionismo e l'età di Van Gogh, p. 382
Elgar, F., Van Gogh, no. 146
Brettell, Richard R. and Stephen F. Eisenman, Nineteenth-Century Art in the Norton Simon Museum, volume 1,
Brooker, Suzanne, Portrait Painting: Old Master Techniques and Contemporary Applications, p. 14
Campbell, Sara, Collector Without Walls: Norton Simon and His Hunt for the Best, cat. 499 p. 305
Naifeh, Stephen and Gregory Smith, Van Gogh: The Life,
Homburg, Cornelia et al., Van Gogh: Up Close, Fig. 131 p. 179
Lord Hindlip, An Auctioneer's Lot, Triumphs and Disasters at Christie's and Beyond, p. 61 ; p. 61 (ill.)
Ian Blanc, Van Gogh, fig. 199 p. 215 (ill.)
Vasseur, Yves, Vincent van Gogh: Matters of Identity, fig. 3.1 p. 47 ; p. 46 (ill.)
Le Figaro, Figaro Hors-Série: Van Gogh, La symphonie de l'adieu, p. 24, p. 25 (ill.)
Le Monde, p. vii
The Connoisseur, no. 6 p. 37
Palmer, L., International Fine Art Collector, p. 72
International Art Market, pp. 145, 149
Apollo, p. xviii
Schuster, A., New York Times,
Princeton Alumni Weekly, p. 12
L'Amour de l'art, p. 30
Steadman, David W., Art Journal, fig. 12 p. 38
Faille, J. B. de la, L'Oeuvre de Vincent van Gogh, catalogue raisonné, vol. I, no. F477; vol. II, pl. CXXX
Scherjon, W.; and Jos de Gruyter, Vincent van Gogh's Great Period, no. 104 p. 133
Faille, J. B. de la, Vincent van Gogh, no. H502 p. 357
Coquiot, Gustave, Vincent van Gogh, p. 313
Wildenstein & Co., The Art and Life of Vincent van Gogh, no. 33
Haus der Kunst, Vincent van Gogh 1853-1890, p. 35
Edo Tralbaut, Marc, Van Gogh, a Pictorial Biography, pp. 13, 132 (incorrectly identified)
Schurr, G., Realities, no. 7 pp. 20-21
Wallace, R., The World of van Gogh, 1853-1890, p. 8
Faille, J. B. de la, The Works of Vincent van Gogh, His Paintings and Drawings, F477 pp. 216-217
Glynn, E., The Print Collectors Newsletter, p. 89
Cornini, A., Egon Schiele's Portraits, fig. 45 pp. 38, 200
Treble, R., Van Gogh and His Art, pl. 66 p. 85
Steadman, David W., The Connoisseur, p. 223
Lecaldano, P., L'opera pittorica completa di Van Gogh, pp. 213-214
The Complete Letters of Vincent van Gogh, nos. 546, 548
Fagles, R., I, Vincent, Poems from the Pictures of Van Gogh, pp. 54-55
Rudine, W., Follies, p. 2
Hulsker, Jan, The Complete Van Gogh, no. 1600 pp. 368-369
Bernard, B., Vincent by Himself, p. 189
Abse, D. and J., Voices in the Gallery, pp. 98-99
Sutton, Peter C., A Guide to Dutch Art in America, fig. 320 p. 220
Wilson, P., The Christian Science Monitor, p. 20
Feilchenfeldt, Walter, Vincent van Gogh & Paul Cassirer, Berlin: The Reception of van Gogh in Germany from 1901-1914, no. F 447 pp. 19, 98
Crosman, C., The Artist's Mother: Portraits & Homages, p. 21
Masterpieces from the Norton Simon Museum, p. 165
Gedo, J., Portraits of the Artist, pp. 136-137
van Lindert, J.; and E. van Uitert, Vincent van Gogh en zijn portretten, fig. 67 p. 83
Arnold, M., Vincent van Gogh: Werk und Wirkung, fig. 70 pp. 152-154, 865
Sachs, Katherine, Van Gogh Face to Face: The Portraits, fig. 118 pp. 130-131
Le Monde,
Druick, Douglas and Peter Zegers, Van Gogh and Gauguin: The Studio of the South, fig. 62 pp. 200 - 203
Casa dei Carraresi, Treviso, L'impressionismo e l'età di Van Gogh, p. 382
Elgar, F., Van Gogh, no. 146
Brettell, Richard R. and Stephen F. Eisenman, Nineteenth-Century Art in the Norton Simon Museum, volume 1,
Brooker, Suzanne, Portrait Painting: Old Master Techniques and Contemporary Applications, p. 14
Campbell, Sara, Collector Without Walls: Norton Simon and His Hunt for the Best, cat. 499 p. 305
Naifeh, Stephen and Gregory Smith, Van Gogh: The Life,
Homburg, Cornelia et al., Van Gogh: Up Close, Fig. 131 p. 179
Lord Hindlip, An Auctioneer's Lot, Triumphs and Disasters at Christie's and Beyond, p. 61 ; p. 61 (ill.)
Ian Blanc, Van Gogh, fig. 199 p. 215 (ill.)
Vasseur, Yves, Vincent van Gogh: Matters of Identity, fig. 3.1 p. 47 ; p. 46 (ill.)
Le Figaro, Figaro Hors-Série: Van Gogh, La symphonie de l'adieu, p. 24, p. 25 (ill.)
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