Woman with a Mourning Shawl

Vincent van Gogh (1853 - 1890), Nuenen, March-May 1885

oil on canvas, 45.5 cm x 33.0 cm

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

Here, Van Gogh was practising painting strong contrasts between light and dark, using only a few colours – ochre for hands and face and green for background and clothing.

The woman is wearing a ‘falie’ or mourning shawl. If you look carefully, you can just spot a white bonnet peeping out from under it. In the spring and summer of 1885, Van Gogh drew and painted other women wearing shawls over their heads in this way. They were worn at funerals or when in mourning.

F-number
F0161
JH-number
JH0788
Object number
s0058V1962
Dimensions
45.5 cm x 33.0 cm, 60 cm x 48 cm
Provenance
With his brother Theo van Gogh, Paris, after May 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 (ratified 28 December 1970); 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)

s Hertogenbosch, Noordbrabants Museum, Het verhaal van Brabant 3, 1 May 2016-31 March 2021

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