Thinking of Vincent van Gogh, one may envision the olive groves of France, painted during his stay at an asylum in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence. Or the sunflowers, those spiky, curling mustard yellows. But most often, one thinks of the man himself—the auburn hair, the jutting cheekbones, the bandaged ear. This exhibition is the first to focus on Van Gogh’s self-portraits, with 16 on view. The earliest dates to 1886, Self Portrait with a Dark Felt Hat, and the latest is Self Portrait with a Palette, painted a year before Van Gogh’s death in 1890. The most famous of all, Self Portrait with a Bandaged Ear, is also in the show. —E.C.

Van Gogh: Self-Portraits was featured in the February 5, 2022 issue of Air Mail. Read on