Visit "Van Gogh. Self-Portraits" at London's Courtauld Gallery until 8 May 2022

For the first time in 130 years, 16 of Van Gogh’s 37 surviving self-portraits are reunited at the Courtauld Gallery in London until 8 May 2022.

Van Gogh’s Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear (1889), shows his three-quarter profile in a room inside the Yellow House. His right ear is bandaged, and he is wearing a closed coat and a fur cap. A work that expresses both his artistic power and private struggles.

Having as a starting point "Van Gogh’s iconic Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear," this is the first time that the full spectrum of Vincent Van Gogh’s self-portraiture has been explored in a single exhibition. Several works, such as Self-Portrait (late August 1889) and Self-Portrait (September 1889) were last together in the artist’s studio and have never been reunified, until now.

In Self-Portrait with Felt Hat (Dec 1886 - Jan 1887), a bourgeois Van Gogh is wearing an elegant overcoat, a black felt hat, and a tie. He portrays himself as a respectable gentleman.

The outstanding selection traces the evolution of Van Gogh's self-representation, starting with his early Self-Portrait with a Dark Felt Hat, created in 1886 during his formative stay in Paris, to Self-Portrait with a Palette, painted at the Saint-Rémy-de-Provence asylum in September 1889, one of the last self-portraits before his death in 1890.

Vincent van Gogh, Self-Portrait (late August 1889) on display in London UK. It's the only painting created while suffering psychosis, therefore depicting him as weak and vulnerable.

The curator of the exhibition, Dr. Karen Serres, said: “Seeing these works together is an unbelievably moving experience, the embodiment of Van Gogh’s courage and resilience in the face of personal adversity. It shows what painting meant to him and his recovery, and how he was able to create, in the most difficult of circumstances, works that continue to be incredibly powerful over a century later.”

Vincent Van Gogh, Self-Portrait (Spring 1887) exhibited at the Courtauld Gallery, London, April 2022

One of the most interesting facts about this unique exhibition is that visitors can also compare Van Gogh's extremely subjective representations of himself with an objective, real-life portrait of the painter - a copy of the only known photograph of the painter aged nineteen, taken in 1873 by J.M.W. de Louw.

📍 "Van Gogh. Self-Portraits" at the Courtauld Gallery, Somerset House, Strand, London WC2R 0RN 📆 Until May 8, 2022.

🎫 Book tickets online at this link.

🚇 The nearest London Underground Station to the Courtauld Gallery is Temple (on the Circle line and the District line). *All photos were taken by Ina/WithinLondon unless stated otherwise. _____________________________

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