Head of a Woman

Currently on view

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

oil on canvas, 43.8 cm x 30.0 cm

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

Van Gogh painted this countrywoman in Nuenen, where he had returned to live with his parents. She posed for him, as did many other villagers. He regarded the paintings he made of them not as portraits, but as ‘study heads’. He passionately wanted to become a good figure painter and he regarded this activity as an essential preparatory exercise.

He aimed to produce a total of 50 such studies, of which 47 have survived. The Van Gogh Museum has 10 of them in its collection.

F-number
F0069
JH-number
JH0724
Object number
s0084V1962
Dimensions
43.8 cm x 30.0 cm, 60 cm x 46 cm
Provenance
Probably taken from Nuenen by his brother, Theo van Gogh, Paris, March 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)

Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum, De Aardappeleters: misser of meesterwerk?, 8 October 2021-13 February 2022

Mons, BAM - Beaux-Arts Mons, Van Gogh in de Borinage. De geboorte van een kunstenaar, 25 January-17 May 2015

Nuenen, Gemeentehuis, Een brabantse Van Gogh ervaring, 6 June-20 October 1984, no. zonder nr.

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Leiden, Leidsche Kunstvereeniging, Tentoonstelling van schilderijen door Vincent van Gogh, 7-16 October 1905, no. 3

Utrecht, Vereeniging Voor de Kunst, Tentoonstelling van schilderijen door Vincent van Gogh, 9 September-2 October 1905, no. 3

Amsterdam, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, Tentoonstelling Vincent van Gogh, 15 July-1 September 1905, no. 10

Hulsker, Jan, The complete works of Vincent van Gogh, 1978, vol. 1, pl. 49.

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Hulsker, Jan, The new complete Van Gogh : paintings, drawings, sketches, 1996, p. 158-159

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