Portrait of an Old Woman

Currently on view

Vincent van Gogh (1853 - 1890), Antwerp, December 1885

oil on canvas, 50.5 cm x 39.8 cm

Credits (obliged to state): Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (Vincent van Gogh Foundation)

The old woman's grey hair sticks out from under her white cap. Van Gogh liked bonnets like this, which made a fine contrast with dark clothing and backgrounds. Using rough brushstrokes, Van Gogh suggested the shadows in her face.

In Antwerp (BE), Van Gogh wanted to master portrait painting. He heard from local art dealers that women's heads sold better than men's. From that time on, he focused on female models.

F-number
F0174
JH-number
JH0978
Object number
s0010V1962
Dimensions
50.5 cm x 39.8 cm, 68.1 cm x 57.7 cm
Provenance
With his brother Theo van Gogh, Paris, after December 1885; after his death on 25 January 1891, inherited by his widow, Jo van Gogh-Bonger, and their son, Vincent Willem van Gogh, Paris; administered until her death on 2 September 1925 by Jo van Gogh-Bonger, Bussum/Amsterdam/Laren; transferred by Vincent Willem van Gogh, Laren, to the Vincent van Gogh Foundation, Amsterdam, 10 July 1962; agreement concluded between the Vincent van Gogh Foundation and the State of the Netherlands, in which the preservation and management of the collection, and its placing in the Rijksmuseum Vincent van Gogh, to be realized in Amsterdam, is entrusted to the State, 21 July 1962; given on loan until the opening of the museum on 2 June 1973 to the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; on permanent loan to the Rijksmuseum Vincent van Gogh from 2 June 1973 and at the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, since 1 July 1994.
artist
Vincent van Gogh
Credits (obliged to state)
Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (Vincent van Gogh Foundation)

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