1887 · Detroit Institute of Arts · Sources
Life
Vincent van Gogh was born on March 30, 1853, in Groot-Zundert, in the Brabant region of the southern Netherlands, the son of a Protestant pastor. He worked for the art dealers Goupil & Cie before leaving, taught school in England, and threw himself into missionary work among the coal miners of the Borinage in Belgium—failing at all of it. Only at twenty-seven did he resolve to stake his life on painting, and his entire career as an artist spanned just ten years, from 1880 to 1890. In his early Dutch period (in Nuenen) he painted dark, earth-toned scenes of peasant life, such as The Potato Eaters (1885). In March 1886 he moved to Paris to live with his brother Theo, where he absorbed Impressionism, Neo-Impressionism (Pointillism), and Japanese woodblock prints (ukiyo-e), and his palette grew explosively brighter. Detroit's Self-Portrait (1887), included in this exhibition, shows exactly this Parisian experiment with the pointillist touch. In February 1888, in search of stronger light, he went south to Arles, rented the 'Yellow House,' and poured out masterpieces such as the sunflowers, the Roulin family portraits, and the night café. His attempt at living and working alongside Paul Gauguin collapsed after barely two months, and in December 1888 he suffered the breakdown in which he cut off part of his own ear. In May 1889 he voluntarily entered the Saint-Paul asylum in Saint-Rémy, where he painted The Starry Night, the cypresses, and the irises. In May 1890 he moved to Auvers-sur-Oise, near Paris, where under the care of Dr. Gachet he painted with feverish intensity—about seventy works in roughly seventy days (this exhibition's Bank of the Oise at Auvers dates from this period). But on July 27, 1890, he suffered a gunshot wound to the chest in a field, and two days later, on July 29, he died in Theo's arms at the age of thirty-seven. During his lifetime he sold, in any formal sense, essentially only a single painting (The Red Vineyard). The nearly 800 letters he wrote to his brother Theo preserve his thoughts, his theories of color, and his innermost feelings in full; and it was thanks to Theo's wife, Johanna van Gogh-Bonger (Jo), who safeguarded and championed those letters and paintings, that after his death he became one of the most beloved artists in the world.
Style & Innovation
Van Gogh's revolution lay in making color and brushstroke a language of emotion. Where Impressionism pursued the objective impression of light and atmosphere, he elevated color into an instrument of subjective feeling. In his letters to Theo he wrote again and again, in effect, that he was not trying to reproduce exactly what lay before him but using color arbitrarily in order to express himself more powerfully. He clashed complementary colors side by side—red against green, yellow against violet, blue against orange—to set the surface vibrating with tension, taking the principles he had learned from Delacroix and from color theory (Chevreul) and appropriating them emotionally. In his Paris years (1886–88) he experimented with the Pointillism of Seurat and Signac, and the Detroit Self-Portrait (1887) shows the stage at which he had already begun to convert those dots into fine, dense strokes on the face and into longer, looser lines of color across the clothing and background. Soon he transformed those dots into long, thick strokes that built the canvas up like a relief. Within the seven-section narrative of this exhibition, Van Gogh stands at the heart of the third, 'Post-Impressionist' section, at the decisive turning point that follows the optical investigations of Impressionism (Renoir, Degas)—the passage from the 'eye' to the 'heart.' If Cézanne opened the path of form and structure (leading toward Cubism), Van Gogh opened the path of color and emotion, leading straight into the Fauvism (Matisse) and Expressionism (Beckmann, Kokoschka) that would soon follow. In other words, much of the liberation of color and impassioned expression in the later part of this exhibition is ground that Van Gogh broke first. That he accomplished all of this in just ten years—and with almost no formal artistic training—makes him all the more a figure of legend.
Technique
A Van Gogh painting only truly reveals itself when you stand before the actual surface. Look first at the thickness of the impasto. He did not thin his paint and spread it smoothly; he pushed up thick paint squeezed almost straight from the tube—with stiff hog-bristle brushes and sometimes a palette knife—until the surface rose like a relief. Seen from the side, the ridges of paint cast tiny shadows; seen head-on, they catch the light and the surface itself glitters. Second, follow the direction of the brushstrokes. His touch is not mere filling but a record of movement, so that sky, water, and field each flow and swirl with a different grain. In the Self-Portrait (1887), the face is handled with narrow, dense touches for detail while the clothing and background are treated in broader, looser lines of color, so that pointillist vibration and a sense of movement coexist; in the later landscapes, long, undulating strokes wind across the surface. Third, look consciously for complementary contrasts: the green beside the flesh tones, the violet beside the yellow, each making the other resonate more intensely. One point worth noting about the medium is that the Detroit Self-Portrait was painted not on canvas but on artist's board (pasteboard/cardboard) mounted to a wood panel (a small surface of 34.9 × 26.7 cm)—a vivid trace of how, in his Paris years, he experimented quickly on cheap supports. From a conservation standpoint, an important fact is that some of the red and yellow pigments he favored—such as geranium lake and certain chrome yellows—are light-sensitive and have faded over time. As a result, the colors we see today are often quieter than the originals, and ultraviolet and microscopic analysis frequently reveals the 'original, hotter color' surviving along the edges, where the frame shielded them from light. X-ray and infrared examination have also uncovered cases in which, out of poverty, he reused canvases and painted one picture over another (especially common in his Paris and Dutch works). The weave on the back of the canvas, the profile of the thick paint, even the cracks (craquelure) that formed as the pigment dried—this physical materiality, which no reproduction can ever convey, is the essence of seeing a Van Gogh in person.
Key Works
1887 · oil on artist board, mounted to wood panel · Detroit Institute of Arts, City of Detroit Purchase, acc. no. 22.13 · Sources
Why it matters
The key Van Gogh of this exhibition. Purchased by the City of Detroit in 1922, it became the first Van Gogh ever to enter a public museum collection in the United States. Ralph H. Booth, head of Detroit's Arts Commission, won it for $4,200 at a New York auction on January 31, 1922 (the sale of the Kélékian collection at the American Art Association). Lacking the money to pay models, Van Gogh used himself as his own model and left more than thirty self-portraits; this Paris-period work captures the moment when he was assimilating Pointillism in his own way. The DIA's official title is simply 'Self-Portrait.'
👁 What to look for
The face is worked in fine, dense touches while the clothing and background are treated in broader, looser lines of color, so the pointillist vibration stays alive. The cool, bluish work smock (a hint of the artist's smock) clashes as a complementary contrast with the warm tones of the beard and flesh, so the face seems to rise off the surface. Note too, in front of the real thing, that the support is not canvas but artist's board (pasteboard), and that the picture is surprisingly small at 34.9 × 26.7 cm.
Backstory
This is a work with a well-documented provenance: from the fellow painter Émile Bernard (Paris) to Ambroise Vollard (Paris), Paul Cassirer (Berlin), Bernard Goudchaux (Paris), and Dikran Khan Kélékian (Paris and New York); it then appeared in the Kélékian collection auction (American Art Association) on January 31, 1922, where Detroit's Arts Commission head Ralph H. Booth won it for $4,200. At the time, modern European painting was an unfamiliar choice in America, and Wilhelm Valentiner—later the director of the DIA—staunchly defended the purchase, predicting that the people of Detroit would one day be grateful for it. When the City of Detroit faced bankruptcy in 2013 this painting too was threatened with sale, but it survived when the collection was protected through the 'Grand Bargain.'
1890 · oil on canvas · Detroit Institute of Arts, Bequest of Robert H. Tannahill, acc. no. 70.159 · Sources
Why it matters
A landscape Van Gogh painted in July 1890 at Auvers-sur-Oise, just before his death. Over these final seventy or so days he painted with explosive energy—around seventy works—and this picture holds the serene yet impassioned brushwork of that 'last summer.' The bright rowing boats on the river are striking. Together with the Self-Portrait (1887), it offers the rare chance to see, in a single museum, both Van Gogh's early Paris period and his final months side by side.
👁 What to look for
Look at the vivid color of the rowing boats on the river, and at the short, thick brushstrokes that make water, riverbank, and trees each flow with a different directional grain until the whole surface seems to vibrate. Up close, the complementary touches (green–red, blue–orange) stay separate; step back and they vibrate as a single mass. Check the thickness of the impasto from the side.
Backstory
In his Auvers period, under the care of Dr. Gachet, Van Gogh painted the village, the fields, and the banks of the Oise without pause. This picture has a particularly rich provenance: after the artist's death it belonged to his sister-in-law Johanna van Gogh-Bonger until September 1905, then passed through Paul Cassirer in Berlin and Knoedler & Co. in New York, among others, before the Detroit collector Robert H. Tannahill bought it on January 15, 1935; it entered the DIA through his bequest in 1970 (acc. 70.159). The Tannahill bequest was the decisive event that vastly strengthened Detroit's modern collection (Cézanne, Gauguin, Degas, and others).
1888 · oil on canvas · Detroit Institute of Arts, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Walter Buhl Ford II, acc. no. 1996.25 · Sources
Why it matters
One of the people Van Gogh felt closest to during his Arles period was the postman Joseph Roulin (1841–1903). Van Gogh painted at least six portraits of Roulin in 1888–1889, and Detroit holds one of those versions (1888). He described Roulin as a man 'resembling Socrates,' and the portrait embodies Van Gogh's conviction that 'portraiture is no longer the privilege of the rich alone.'
👁 What to look for
Look at the contrast between the deep-blue uniform and the warm flesh tones, and the luxuriant beard rendered in thick, textured strokes. Note too how the composition simplifies the background and places the figure almost frontally, maximizing his presence.
Backstory
In Arles in 1888, Van Gogh badly needed people willing to sit for him, and the kindred-spirited Roulin family made ideal subjects. He described Roulin's head to Theo as 'Socratic,' with almost no nose, a broad forehead, a balding crown, ruddy plump cheeks, big eyes, and a pepper-and-salt beard. The DIA's version entered the collection in 1996 as the gift of Mr. and Mrs. Walter Buhl Ford II (acc. 1996.25). That said, the Van Gogh works explicitly listed for this 52-work touring show are the Self-Portrait, Bank of the Oise at Auvers, and Vase with Carnations, so whether this Roulin portrait is actually on display can be confirmed from the gallery label and the catalogue.
Vase with Carnations
1886
View the work →
1886 · oil on canvas · Detroit Institute of Arts · Sources
Why it matters
One of the series of flower still lifes that Van Gogh painted intensively just after arriving in Paris in 1886, in order to brighten his color and test his brushwork. It marks the transition from the dark Dutch period to the bright Paris period, bearing witness to the very threshold of the transformation—just slightly before this exhibition's Self-Portrait (1887).
👁 What to look for
Look at the thick paint of the petals and leaves, the color contrast between the flowers and the background, and the lively brushwork from before he had fully crossed over into Pointillism.
Backstory
In his Paris period, lacking the money to pay models, Van Gogh made flower still lifes his testing ground for color and brushwork, producing a number of flower paintings. The Rome touring-show (Ara Pacis) materials explicitly list Vase with Carnations (1886) and Bank of the Oise at Auvers (1890) among the Van Gogh works on display. The exact dimensions and credit line can be confirmed from the gallery label and the DIA catalogue.
Behind the Canvas
01A painter who sold almost nothing in his lifetime
It is widely known that during his lifetime Van Gogh sold, in any formal sense, essentially just a single work (The Red Vineyard, sold at the 'Les XX' exhibition in Brussels in 1890). He depended entirely on the financial support of his brother Theo, and although between 1880 and 1890 he produced some 860 oil paintings and more than 1,100 drawings and sketches, recognition came only after his death. Today his paintings rank among the most expensive in the world, yet the artist himself lived his whole life in poverty and obscurity.
02The person who made him a world-famous artist was his sister-in-law
When, only about half a year after Van Gogh's death, his brother Theo also passed away, Theo's wife, Johanna van Gogh-Bonger (Jo), inherited hundreds of paintings and nearly 800 letters. People urged her to sell off the paintings, but she refused; she organized exhibitions, edited and published the letters, and devoted her life to making her brother-in-law's name known to the world. Intriguingly, Detroit's Bank of the Oise at Auvers was in her own collection until September 1905. Without her, the 'Van Gogh legend' might never have existed.
03Detroit, the first public museum in America to buy a Van Gogh
On January 31, 1922, at a New York auction (the Kélékian collection, American Art Association), Detroit's Arts Commission head Ralph H. Booth won this exhibition's Self-Portrait (1887) for $4,200, making the Detroit Institute of Arts the first public museum in the United States to own a Van Gogh. At a time when modern European painting was still seen in America as an unfamiliar and risky choice, this was a sign of Detroit's bold eye. Wilhelm Valentiner, later the DIA's director, foresaw that this 'courageous' purchase would surely, one day, be recognized.
04How the palette exploded—the two-year transformation in Paris
Before he came to Paris in 1886, Van Gogh's paintings were as dark and earthy as The Potato Eaters. But in just two years in Paris, encountering Impressionism, Pointillism, and Japanese prints, his color brightened as if by some miracle. In Paris he began to control his bright palette deliberately, putting it to use 'in order to express a particular emotion.' This exhibition's Self-Portrait (1887) sits right in the middle of that transformation.
05Faded colors—the colors we see are not the original ones
Some of the reds (geranium lake) and yellows Van Gogh favored were light-sensitive and lost their color over time. As a result, the surfaces we see today are often quieter than he intended, and conservators sometimes discover the 'original, more intense color' along the edges, where the frame shielded them from light. When viewing the real thing, becoming aware of the difference in color between the edges and the center makes this fact a fascinating discovery.
06The Detroit Self-Portrait is not on 'canvas'
This exhibition's Self-Portrait (1887) is painted not on canvas but on artist's board (pasteboard/cardboard) mounted to a wood panel. In his Paris period, Van Gogh, short of money, often painted quickly on cheap pasteboard, and the picture is surprisingly small at 34.9 × 26.7 cm. His everyday habit of experimenting on a shoestring left its mark even in his choice of support.
What to check in person
- View the surface from the side (at an angle). The ridges and shadows formed by the thick impasto, and the sheen of the surface, reveal a three-dimensionality invisible from straight on.
- Let your eye follow the direction of the brushstrokes as if tracing them with a finger. Sky, water, field, and clothing each flow with a different grain, and that movement is the very trace of Van Gogh's emotion.
- Deliberately hunt for complementary contrasts. Pick out the points where violet beside yellow, orange beside blue, and green beside flesh tones make each other resonate more intensely.
- In the Self-Portrait (1887), compare the fine touches of the face with the broad, loose lines of color in the clothing and background; in the late landscape (1890), look for the long, undulating strokes—and analyze how his brush changed over time.
- Alternate between viewing the colors up close and from two or three steps back. You can experience firsthand the optical effect by which color dots that looked separate blend and vibrate as a single mass at a distance.
- Examine the cracks (craquelure) in the pigment and the fading of color. The hotter color surviving along the edges that received less light (the part once hidden by the frame), and the grain where the thick paint cracked as it dried, let you sense the state of conservation and the original color.
- Check the support. The Detroit Self-Portrait is a small picture, 34.9 × 26.7 cm, painted not on canvas but on artist's board (pasteboard) mounted to a wood panel. Note the smooth panel texture rather than a canvas weave, and the surprisingly small surface when you look close up.
- In the Arles and Auvers period portraits (such as the Roulin portrait), look at the simplification of the background, the frontality of the figure, and the thick, clear rhythm of the brush rendering the beard and hair.
Connections
Within the seven-section narrative of this exhibition, Van Gogh is one of the two pillars of the Post-Impressionist section. If, in the same section, Paul Cézanne opened the path of 'form and structure' that led to Cubism (Picasso, Braque), Van Gogh opened the path of 'color and emotion,' leading directly into the Fauvism (Matisse, Derain) and Expressionism (Beckmann, Kokoschka) that follow soon after. In Paris he absorbed the Pointillism (Neo-Impressionism) of Seurat and Signac into the Self-Portrait (1887), and while he inherited the bright palette of Impressionism (Renoir, Monet), he pushed it from objective optics toward subjective expression. With his contemporary Paul Gauguin he lived and worked together for some two months in Arles in 1888, but it ended in catastrophe—the episode that led to the severing of his ear. Seen within the Detroit collection, when this 1887 Self-Portrait is placed beside Matisse's The Window (1922), purchased in the same year, Detroit's early leadership and eye for modern art come sharply into focus. Detroit's modern collection was greatly strengthened by the 1970 bequest of Robert Hudson Tannahill, which brought in—besides Bank of the Oise at Auvers (acc. 70.159)—works by Cézanne, Gauguin, Degas, and others. The Portrait of the Postman Roulin, by contrast, entered by a separate route, as the 1996 gift of Mr. and Mrs. Walter Buhl Ford II (acc. 1996.25).
Did You Know
- Portrait of the Postman Roulin (1888) is a DIA holding (Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Walter Buhl Ford II, acc. 1996.25). However, whether it is included in this 52-work touring show is not specified in confirmed sources. — medium: Available sources confirm that this work is a DIA holding (1888, acc. 1996.25) and one of the six Roulin portraits Van Gogh painted. However, the Van Gogh works explicitly listed for this touring show are the Self-Portrait, Bank of the Oise at Auvers, and Vase with Carnations, so whether the Roulin portrait is on display, and its exact dimensions, can be confirmed from the gallery label and the catalogue.
- Vase with Carnations (1886) is a DIA holding and a work on display in this exhibition. — medium: The Rome touring-show (Ara Pacis) materials explicitly list Vase with Carnations (1886) and Bank of the Oise at Auvers (1890) among the Van Gogh works on display. However, flower still lifes with the same title are scattered across several museums—the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, and others—so it is safest to confirm the DIA version's exact dimensions and credit line from the gallery label and the catalogue.
- Van Gogh effectively sold only one painting during his lifetime (The Red Vineyard). — medium: A widely held received view; by the standard of formal sales it is largely accurate, but since some scholars hold that there were a few other transactions during his lifetime, it is qualified as 'effectively.' The Red Vineyard is said to have been sold to Anna Boch at the 'Les XX' exhibition in Brussels in 1890.
Sources (15)
- Official exhibition material: 'Impressionism and Beyond: Masterpieces from the Detroit Institute of Arts' (Sejong Museum of Art, Seoul, May 28 – Aug 23, 2026)
- DIA collection — Self-Portrait (1887)
- DIA collection — Bank of the Oise at Auvers (1890)
- DIA collection — Portrait of Postman Roulin (1888)
- Artnet News — 'The Detroit Institute of Arts Was the First U.S. Museum to Buy a Van Gogh'
- The Art Newspaper — Van Gogh self-portrait, Detroit (2018)
- CBS News — 'Van Gogh in America': How the Dutch artist entranced a nation
- Finestre sull'Arte — Rome Ara Pacis 52 masterpieces from DIA (lists the Van Gogh works on display)
- Turismo Roma — Impressionism and Beyond (Ara Pacis)
- Wikipedia: Vincent van Gogh
- Wikipedia: Portrait of the Postman Joseph Roulin
- Wikimedia Commons — File:Van Gogh Self-Portrait with Straw Hat 1887-Detroit.jpg (PD, DIA acc.22.13, 1887)
- Wikimedia Commons — File:Vincent van Gogh - Bank of the Oise at Auvers - 70.159 - Detroit Institute of Arts.jpg (PD, DIA, 1890)
- Wikimedia Commons — File:Vincent van Gogh - Portrait of Postman Roulin - 1996.25 - Detroit Institute of Arts.jpg (PD, DIA, 1888)
- Van Gogh Museum — Postman Joseph Roulin