This portrait by Vincent van Gogh is in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago. It was painted using a style similar to Pointillism, but doesn't stick strictly to dots only.
In the two years he lived in Paris, from 1886 to 1888, Van Gogh painted 24 self-portraits. The Art Institute of Chicago described this one as employing Seurat's "dot technique" not as a scientific method, but "an intense emotional language" in which "the red and green dots are disturbing and totally in keeping with the nervous tension evident in van Gogh's gaze".
In a letter a few years later to his sister, Wilhelmina, Van Gogh wrote: "I painted two pictures of myself lately, one of which has rather the true character, I think, although in Holland they would probably scoff at the ideas about portrait painting that are germinating here. ... I always think photographs abominable, and I don't like to have them around, particularly not those of persons I know and love.... photographic portraits wither much sooner than we ourselves do, whereas the painted portrait is a thing which is felt, done with love or respect for the human being that is portrayed."
(Quote source: Letter to Wilhelmina van Gogh, 19 September 1889)
See Also:
• Why Artists Interested in Portraiture Should Paint Self-Portraits
• Self-Portrait Painting Demonstration
• Van Gogh Painting Project
• Van Gogh and Expressionism
In the two years he lived in Paris, from 1886 to 1888, Van Gogh painted 24 self-portraits. The Art Institute of Chicago described this one as employing Seurat's "dot technique" not as a scientific method, but "an intense emotional language" in which "the red and green dots are disturbing and totally in keeping with the nervous tension evident in van Gogh's gaze".
In a letter a few years later to his sister, Wilhelmina, Van Gogh wrote: "I painted two pictures of myself lately, one of which has rather the true character, I think, although in Holland they would probably scoff at the ideas about portrait painting that are germinating here. ... I always think photographs abominable, and I don't like to have them around, particularly not those of persons I know and love.... photographic portraits wither much sooner than we ourselves do, whereas the painted portrait is a thing which is felt, done with love or respect for the human being that is portrayed."
(Quote source: Letter to Wilhelmina van Gogh, 19 September 1889)
See Also:
• Why Artists Interested in Portraiture Should Paint Self-Portraits
• Self-Portrait Painting Demonstration
• Van Gogh Painting Project
• Van Gogh and Expressionism