Portrait of Etienne-Lucien Martin

Currently on view

Vincent van Gogh (1853 - 1890), Paris, November 1887

oil on canvas, 65.8 cm x 54.5 cm

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

Etienne-Lucien Martin owned a restaurant in Paris, where Van Gogh was a regular customer. Martin allowed him to hold an exhibition there of his own work and that of his friends. Van Gogh probably painted this portrait to express his gratitude. But Martin never received it. Soon after the exhibition opened, they quarrelled. Martin claimed the pictures were spoiling the appetite of his customers. The exhibition closed early.

Van Gogh painted le patron (the boss) in his working clothes. He originally used brighter colours for the portrait but changed his mind and chose muted tones instead. The red pigment has faded over time, unintentionally making the colours even softer than Van Gogh intended.

F-number
F0289
JH-number
JH1203
Object number
s0125V1962
Dimensions
65.8 cm x 54.5 cm, 88.3 cm x 77.2 cm
Provenance
Left by the artist at the apartment of his brother Theo van Gogh, Paris, November 1887; 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; given on loan by Vincent Willem van Gogh, Laren to the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, since 22 October 1931; donated by Vincent Willem van Gogh to the (1st) Vincent van Gogh Foundation, Laren, 11 March 1952; transferred by the (1st) Vincent van Gogh Foundation to the Theo van Gogh Foundation, Laren, 28 December 1960; agreement concluded on 21 July 1962 between the (2nd) Vincent van Gogh Foundation, Amsterdam, 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; donated on 21 July 1962 by the Theo van Gogh Foundation to the Vincent van Gogh Foundation; 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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Detroit, Detroit Institute of Arts, Van Gogh. Face to Face, 12 March-4 June 2000

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Washington, National Gallery of Art, Van Gogh's Van Goghs. Masterpieces from the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, 4 October 1998-3 January 1999

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Paris, Orangerie des Tuileries, Vincent van Gogh. Collection du Musée National Vincent van Gogh à Amsterdam, 21 December 1971-10 April 1972, no. 28

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Den Helder, Volksuniversiteit (Den Helder), [titel onbekend], June 1960

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Antwerp, Zaal Comité voor Artistieke Werking, Vincent van Gogh, 7 May-19 June 1955

Bern, Kunstmuseum Bern, Vincent van Gogh, 27 November 1954-30 January 1955

Messel, Nils, Moi, Arlyne, The impressionist trail : the what, whence and whiter of French masterpieces in Norway, 2020, p. 45-51

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