Vincent van Gogh
(Netherlands 30 Mar 1853–29 Jul 1890)
- Title
- Head of a peasant
- Other titles:
- Head of a peasant: Study for 'The Potato Eaters'
- Year
- 1884
- Media
- Painting
- Medium
- oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- 39.4 x 30.2cm stretcher; 59.3 x 50.0 x 7.5cm frame
- Signature & date
- Not signed. Not dated.
- Credit
- Art Gallery of New South Wales Foundation Purchase 1990
- Accession number
- 211.1990
- Location
- Modern gallery
- Further information
Without the obsessive regime of self-instruction and direct observation from nature that typified his Nuenen period, it is doubtful we would know Vincent van Gogh today. A late starter, the almost 30-year-old van Gogh made up for lost artistic time in a fever of drawing and painting that culminated in his first masterpiece, 'The potato eaters', finished in 1885. Between December 1884 and the completion of this rustic nocturne, he produced forty bust-length portraits of peasant types: a series of Heads of the People as it were. Van Gogh's socialist sympathies are apparent in every one. Vigorously brushed and soberly coloured, they take substance from the darkness around them. Fiery highlights on flesh and fabric suggest lamplight. Indeed, 'The potato eaters' is lit by paraffin. The present brooding study in all likelihood shows Antonius van Rooij, paterfamilias of the group. Van Gogh yearned to share in the social simplicity and moral certainty of this man. That he could not do so, though painful to him, left open the way to art.
AGNSW Handbook, 1999.
- Provenance
- Christie's London (England), 02 Apr 1990, London/England, Purchased by the AGNSW from Christie's London, 2 April 1990 'Impressionist and Modernist Paintings and Sculpture' lot 19
Hilmar Reksten (Norway), pre 02 Apr 1990, Sold Christie's London, 2 April 1990 'Impressionist and Modernist Paintings and Sculpture', lot no. 19, 'Property from the Hilmar Reksten Collection, sold on behalf of the bankrupt estate of the late Hilmar Reksten'.
Private Collection, post 01 Jul 1970, England
Mrs E. Mahe-Williame (France), pre 01 Jul 1970, Aix-en-Provence/France, sold Sotheby's London, 1 July 1970
Mrs S. Williame-Aurier (France), post 1892, Chateauroux/France
G. Albert Aurier (France, d.1892), 1890-1892, Chateauroux/France, acquired through Theo van Gogh - Bibliography (17)
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Vincent van Gogh: Timeless Country - Modern City (2010), Complesso del Vittoriano (Italy) (Author).
Vincent Van Gogh: The Drawings (2005), Colta Ives, Susan Alyson Stein, Sjraar van Heugten, Marije Vellekoop, Metropolitan Museum of Art (United States of America), Van Gogh Museum (Netherlands), New York, New York, United States of America, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Look (Sep 2004), Jill Sykes (Australia) (Editor), 10pm [print management] (Australia), Newtown, New South Wales, Australia.
Van Gogh Face to Face: The Portraits (2000), Detroit Institiute of Arts (United States of America) (Author), Detroit Institiute of Arts (United States of America), Detroit, Michigan, United States of America.
Art Gallery of New South Wales handbook (1999), Bruce James (Australia) (Author), Edmund Capon (England; Australia, b.1940) (Director), Trustees of the Art Gallery of New South Wales (Australia), Domain, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Art Gallery of New South Wales Foundation Annual Report 1997 (1997), Edmund Capon (England; Australia, b.1940) (Author), Art Gallery of New South Wales (Australia, estab. 1874), Domain, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
The Art Gallery of New South Wales collections (1994), Ewen McDonald (Australia) (Editor), Art Gallery of New South Wales (Australia, estab. 1874), Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Great gifts, great patrons: an exhibition celebrating private patronage of the Gallery (1994), Art Gallery of New South Wales (Australia, estab. 1874) (Author), Art Gallery of New South Wales (Australia, estab. 1874), Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Shell presents Van Gogh: his sources, genius and influence (1993), Judith Ryan (Australia, b.1941) (Editor), Art Exhibitions Australia Ltd (Australia), Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
The Potato Eaters by Vincent van Gogh (1993), Louis van Tilborgh (Author), Hoogsteder & Hoogsteder, The Hague, Waanders Publishers, Zwolle, Netherlands.
Art and Australia (Vol. 28, No. 3) (Autumn 1991), Editor Unknown (Editor), Fine Arts Press Pty Limited (Australia), Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Christie's London: Impressionist and Modern Paintings and Sculpture (02 Apr 1990), Christie's London (England) (Editor), Christie's London (England), London, England.
Hilmar Rekstens Samlinger (Unknown), S. Helliesen (Author), Publisher unknown, Norway.
The complete van Gogh; paintings, drawings, sketches (1980), Jan Hulsker (Netherlands) (Author), Phaidon Press Ltd (United Kingdom), Oxford, England.
L'opera pittorica completa di van Gogh (1977), P. Lecaldano (Author), Publisher unknown, Milan, Italy.
The works of Vincent Van Gogh, his paintings and drawings (1970), J.B. de la Fialle (Author), Publisher unknown, London, England.
Post-Impressionism from Van Gogh to Gauguin (1956), John Rewald (b.1912, d.1994) (Author), Publisher unknown, New York, United States of America.
- Exhibition history (7)
-
Van Gogh: Face to Face, (02 Jul 2000–24 Sep 2000), at Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (United States of America), Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America.
Vincent van Gogh: Timeless country - modern city, (07 Oct 2010–20 Feb 2011), at Complesso del Vittoriano (Italy), Viale Bruno Buozzi Rome Italy 00197.
Van Gogh: Face to Face, (12 Mar 2000–04 Jun 2000), at Detroit Institiute of Arts (United States of America), 520 Woodward Ave Detroit, Michigan, United States of America 48202.
Great gifts, great patrons, (17 Aug 1994–19 Oct 1994), at Art Gallery of New South Wales (Australia, estab. 1874), Art Gallery Rd Domain, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia 2000.
Shell presents Van Gogh: his sources, genius and influence, (19 Nov 1993–16 Jan 1994), at National Gallery of Victoria [St Kilda Road] (Australia, estab. 1968, closed 1999), 180 St Kilda Road Melbourne Victoria Australia 3000.
Shell presents Van Gogh: his sources, genius and influence, (22 Jan 1994–13 Mar 1994), at Queensland Art Gallery (Australia, estab. 1895), PO Box 3686 South Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
Van Gogh: Face to Face, (22 Oct 2000–14 Jan 2001), at Philadelphia Museum of Art (United States of America), Philadelphia United States of America.