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A dark-haired, disembodied head of a haloed man with pale, peach skin floats against a red and yellow background in this vertical portrait. The man’s hair seems to be flattened against his forehead, and extends beyond his head at the back in a way that suggests it may become a cap or hood. His face turns toward us, and he looks down to our left under arched eyebrows. He has a prominent hooked nose and a brushy mustache. Behind his head, the background is divided into a tomato-red zone for the top half and a golden yellow field below, separated by a thin, pine-green line. Two red and green apples hang from a branch near the upper right corner. The thin yellow halo floats over his head to the left of the branch. A pine-green, stylized, vine-like form curves up from the bottom edge of the panel and ends with flat, sunshine yellow, square shapes, perhaps abstracted flowers or fruit. A hand near the lower right holds one end of the vine like a cigarette between fingertips. The vine seems to turn into a serpent’s head beyond the man’s fingers. Numbers and letters are painted in green in the lower left: “1889” and “P Go.”

Self-Portrait, 1889

Paul Gauguin

West Building, Main Floor — Gallery 83

Are artists sinners or saints? Gauguin paints himself as both. The upper half of this self-portrait depicts him as a saint. With a halo above his head, he looks away from the apples, the forbidden fruit from the Tree of Knowledge. (In the biblical story, eating one of these apples was the original sin of humanity.) But in the lower half, Gauguin appears as a sinner. He holds the snake who tempted Adam and Eve to eat the forbidden fruit.

The modern artist, the painting suggests, rises above good and evil. Gauguin is pointing to deeper truths, free from what he considered society’s restrictive morality. He uses color and form to help us see the world in a new way.

Dive deeper

Self–portraiture constituted a significant element of Gauguin's production, particularly in 1888 and 1889. Gauguin's interest was prompted in part by Vincent van Gogh's 1888 portrait series including La Mousmé, which Gauguin knew from his correspondence with Van Gogh and his brother Theo. In addition, Van Gogh hoped to establish an artists' colony in the south that could be analogous to Gauguin's circle in Brittany and proposed an exchange of self–portraits. Gauguin's only known statements about his self–portraiture concern a work similar to the National Gallery’s Self–Portrait and thus have relevance. Gauguin refers to "the face of an outlaw . . . with an inner nobility and gentleness," a face that is "symbol of the contemporary impressionist painter" and "a portrait of all wretched victims of society."

This Self–Portrait, painted on a cupboard door from the dining room of an inn in the Breton hamlet Le Pouldu, is one of Gauguin's most important and radical paintings. His haloed head and disembodied right hand, a snake inserted between the fingers, float on amorphous zones of yellow and red. Elements of caricature add an ironic and aggressively ambivalent inflection to this painted assertion of Gauguin's artistic superiority and make him the sardonic hero of his new aesthetic system.

Object Data

Medium

oil on wood

Dimensions

overall: 79.2 x 51.3 cm (31 3/16 x 20 3/16 in.)

Credit Line

Chester Dale Collection

Accession Number

1963.10.150

Artists / Makers

Paul Gauguin (painter) French, 1848 - 1903

Image Use

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Detail Information

Inscription

lower left: 1889. / P Go

Provenance

Consigned by the artist to Mme Marie Henry [1859-1945], Le Pouldu, in lieu of rent; sold 1919 through François Norgelet to (Galerie Barbazanges, Paris); (Hodebert, Paris).[1] Possibly Mrs. R.A. Workman, London.[2] Lord Ivor Charles Spencer Churchill [1898-1956], London; sold 1923 to (Alex Reid and Lefèvre, Ltd., Glasgow and London); sold 1925 to (Kraushaar Galleries, New York);[3] sold 6 September 1928 to Chester Dale [1883-1962], New York;[4] gift 1963 to NGA.

[1] Receipt signed by Marie Henry for 35,000 francs for 14 paintings sold to Norgelet, dated 3 June 1919, archives of the Barbazanges-Hodebert Gallery, copies, Documentation, Musée d'Orsay. See Dominique Lobstein, "Die Ausstellung Paul Gauguin in der Galerie Barbazanges im Jahre 1919," in Paul Gauguin: Vom der Bretagne nach Tahiti. Ein Aufbruch zur Moderne, Exh. cat., Landesmuseum Joanneum, Graz, 2000. The painting is reproduced in Louise Gebhard Cann, "Gauguin's Image of Himself," International Studio 82 (May 1925): 120, with Hodebert in the caption, although the picture would have left Hodebert by 1923, when it was sold to Reid & Lefèvre. Hodebert was the successor to the Galerie Barbazanges, which was located on the property of fashion designer Paul Poiret. Poiret went bankrupt in the early 1920s and it is probably at that time that the gallery changed ownership/name.

[2] Mrs. Workman's name appears in the Chester Dale papers, NGA curatorial files, sent February 1942, and the portrait is recorded as having belonged to her in the Wildenstein exhibition catalogue, Great Portraits from Impressionism to Modernism, March 1938, although her ownership is not otherwise documented. See letter dated 13 October 1965 from G. Corcoran of Alex Reid & Lefèvre, NGA curatorial files.

[3] See letter dated 13 October 1965 from G. Corcoran of Alex Reid & Lefevre, NGA curatorial files.

[4] Date of purchase from Kraushaar in Chester Dale papers in NGA curatorial files. See also Dale's letter to Kraushaar dated 6 September 1928 (Kraushaar Gallery Records, Archives of American Art, Box 12, folder 42).

Associated Names

Churchill, Ivor Charles Spencer, Lord
Dale, Chester
Galerie Barbazanges
Henry, Marie
Hodebert
Kraushaar Galleries
Reid & Lefèvre, Ltd, Alex
Workman, Robert A. Mrs.

Exhibition History

1919: Paul Gauguin Exposition d'Oeuvres inconnues, Galerie Barbazanges, Paris, 1919, no. 1, repro.

1923: Exposition Rétrospective de P. Gauguin, Galerie L. Dru, Paris, April 1923, no. 11.

1923: Post Impressionism, Lefevre Gallery, London, October/November 1923, no. 24.

1928: Exhibition of Modern French Paintings, Water Colors and Drawings, C.W. Kraushaar Art Galleries, New York, no. 7.

1928: Loan Exhibition of Modern French Art from the Chester Dale Collection for the Benefit of the French Hospital of New York, Wildenstein Galleries, New York, 1928, no. 10.

1929: French Art Since Eighteen Hundred, The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1929, unnumbered checklist published in Museum Bulletin, no. 9 (November 1929), repro.

1937: Exhibition of French Painting, Pennsylvania Museum of Art, Philadelphia, 1937, no catalogue.

1938: Great Portraits from Impressionism to Modernism, Wildenstein & Co., New York, 1938, no. 15.

1939: Seven Centuries of Painting, California Palace of the Legion of Honor and The M.H. de Young Memorial Museum, San Francisco, 1939-1940, no. Y-120.

1965: The Chester Dale Bequest, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1965, unnumbered checklist.

1980: Post-Impressionism: Cross-Currents in European and American Painting 1880-1906, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1980, no. 50, repro.

1988: The Art of Paul Gauguin, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; The Art Institute of Chicago; Grand Palais, Paris, 1988-1989, no. 92, repro. (shown only in Washington).

2000: Art Nouveau, 1890-1914, Victoria and Albert Museum, London; National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, 2000-2001, no. 121 (shown only in Washington).

2010: From Impressionism to Modernism: The Chester Dale Collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington, January 2010-January 2012, unnumbered catalogue, repro. (shown only through February 2011).

2010: Gauguin: Maker of Myth, Tate, London; National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 2010-2011, no. 11, repro. (shown only in Washington in 2011).

Bibliography

1921: Chassé, Charles. Gauguin et le groupe de Pont-Aven. Paris, 1921: 48.

1925: Cann, Louise Gebhard. "Gauguin's Image of Himself." International Studio 81 (May 1925): 120.

1929: Barth, Wilhelm. Paul Gauguin. Basel, 1929: repro. opposite p. 163.

1929: Dale, Maud. Before Manet to Modigliani from the Chester Dale Collection. New York, 1929: no. 61, repro.

1929: Dale, Maud. "French Art in the Chester Dale Collection." Art News (27 April 1929): 46-47, repro.

1936: Bulliet, C. J. The Significant Moderns and Their Pictures. New York, 1936: fig. 69.

1938: Rewald, John. Gauguin. Paris, 1938: repro.

1942: French Paintings from the Chester Dale Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1942: 74, repro.

1942: Hook, Katrina van. "A Self-Portrait by Paul Gauguin from the Chester Dale Collection." Gazette des Beaux-Arts series 6, 22 (October-December 1942): 183+, repro.

1942: Sater, Katherine. "Great Paintings Shown At National Gallery." The Columbus (Ohio) Citizen (13 December 1941): 4, repro.

1944: French Paintings from the Chester Dale Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1944: 74, repro.

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1965: Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century Paintings & Sculpture of the French School in the Chester Dale Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 123, repro.

1965: Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 56.

1966: Cairns, Huntington, and John Walker, eds. A Pageant of Painting from the National Gallery of Art. 2 vols. New York, 1966: 2:470, color repro.

1967: Blanton, Catherine W. "Notes on a Portrait by Gauguin in the Chester Dale Collection." Sudies in the History of Art 1 (1967-1968): 89-98, fig. 8.

1968: Buser, Rev. Thomas. "Gauguin's Religion." Art Journal 27, no. 4 (Summer 1968): 375-377, fig. 1.

1968: Cachin, Françoise. Gauguin. Paris, 1968: 171-172, repro.

1968: National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 48, repro.

1968: Sérullaz, Maurice. Peintres maudits. Paris, 1968: 68, repro.

1971: Anderson, Wayne. Gauguin's Paradise Lost. New York, 1971: 11-12, fig. 8.

1971: Clay, Jean, ed. L'impressionnisme. Paris, 1971: 170, repro.

1972: Sugana, Gabriele Mandel. Tout l'ouevre peint de Gauguin. Milan, 1972: no. 199, repro.

1975: European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 146, repro.

1975: Jirat-Wasiutynski, Vojtech. Paul Gauguin in the Context of Symbolism. New York, 1975: 332-337.

1975: Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. New York, 1975: repro. 529.

1978: Rewald, John. Post-Impressionism, from Van Gogh to Gauguin. Rev. ed. London, 1978: 275, repro.

1979: Goldwater, Robert. Symbolism. New York, 1985: 81-82, repro.

1979: Watson, Ross. The National Gallery of Art, Washington. New York, 1979: 119, pl. 105.

1980: Kelder, Diane. The Great Book of French Impressionism. New York, 1980: 435, repro.

1981: Sugana, Gabriele Mandel. Tout l'oeuvre peint de Gauguin. Paris, 1981: no. 199, repro.

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1985: Le chemin de Gauguin: genèse et rayonnement. Exh. cat. Musée départemental du Prieuré, 1985: 118, repro.

1987: Jirat-Wasiutynski, Vojtech. "Paul Gauguin's 'Self-Portrait with Halo and Snake': The Artist as Initiate and Magus." Art Journal 46, no. 1 (Spring 1987): 22-28, repro.

1987: Malingue, Maurice. La vie prodigieuse de Gauguin. Paris, 1987: 144+.

1987: Thomson, Belinda. Gauguin. London, 1987: repro. 116.

1988: Bretell, Richard R. The Art of Paul Gauguin. Exh. cat. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; Art Institute of Chicago; Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais, Paris. Washington, D.C., 1988: 165-167, no. 92, repro.

1989: Hofstätter, Hans H. "Christliche Thematik im Werk von Paul Gauguin," Das Münster: Zeitschrift für Christliche Kunst und Kunstwissenschaft 42, no. 4 (1989): 301-302, repro.

1990: Lesko, Diane. Gari Melchers: A Retrospective Exhibition. Exh. cat. Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg, Florida, 1990: 15 (followed by tour to 4 other venues).

1991: Coman, Florence E. Joie de Vivre: French Paintings from the National Gallery of Art. Washington, 1991: no. 15, repro.

1991: Kopper, Philip. America's National Gallery of Art: A Gift to the Nation. New York, 1991: 243, color repro.

1992: National Gallery of Art, Washington. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1992: 200, repro.

1993: Adams, Laurie Schneider. Art and Psychoanalysis. New York, 1993: 140-141, fig. 53.

1993: Braun, Barbara. Post-Columbian World: Ancient American Sources of Modern Art. New York, 1993: 79, repro.

1993: Harrison. Charles, Francis Frascina and Gill Perry. Primitivism, Cubism, Abstraction: The Early Twentieth Century. New Haven, 1993: 19, repro.

1993: Kapas, Martha, ed. The Post-Impressionists: A Retrospective. New York, 1993: 152, repro.

1993: Thomson, Belinda, ed. Gauguin by Himself. New York, 1993: no. 107, repro.

1994: Varnedoe, Kirk, and David Rockefeller. Masterpieces from the David and Peggy Rockefeller Collection: Manet to Picasso. Exh. cat. Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1994: 81, fig. 2.

1996: Richard, Paul. "Gauguin's Fantasy Island: A 'Primitive Sculpture That's Anything But.'" Washington Post (Friday, 29 November 1996): C1, C2, repro.

1997: Kelder, Diane. The Great Book of French Impressionism. 1997: no. 333, repro.

1997: Zemel, Carol. Van Gogh's Progress: Utopia, Modernity, and Late-Nineteenth-Century Art. Berkeley, Los Angeles and London, 1997: 165-167, fig. 98.

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1999: Wood, Paul, ed. The Challenge of the Avant-Garde. New Haven, 1999: 172-173, repro.

2000: Art Nouveau, 1890-1914. Exh. cat. Victoria & Albert Museum, London; National Gallery of Art, Washington; Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum. London, 2000: no. 121.

2000: Jirat-Wasiutynski, Vojtech. Technique and Meaning in the Paintings of Paul Gauguin. Cambridge, 2000: 174-175, repro.

2000: Lobstein, Dominique. "Die Ausstellung Paul Gauguin in der Galerie Barbazanges im Jahre 1919." in Paul Gauguin: Von der Bretagne nach Tahiti. Ein Aufbruch zur Moderne. Exh. cat., Landesmuseum Joanneum, Graz, 2000: 119-128.

2000: Monneret, Jean. Catalogue raisonné du Salon des indépendants, 1884-2000: les Indépendants dans l'histoire de l'art. Exh. cat. Grand-Palais des Champs-Elysees, Paris, 2000: 65, repro.

2000: Paul Gauguin, von der Bretagne nach Tahiti: ein Abruch zur Moderne. Exh. cat. Landesmuseum Joanneum, Graz, 2000: 53, repro.

2001: Adriani, Götz. Henri Rousseau: Der Zöllner, Grenzgänger zur Moderne. Exh. cat. Kunsthalle Tübingen, 2001: 146, repro.

2001: Druick, Douglas, and Peter Kort Zegers. Van Gogh and Gauguin: The Studio of the South. Exh. cat. Art Institute of Chicago; Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam. Chicago and New York, 2001: 309, repro. 312.

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2001: Mathews, Nancy Mowll. Paul Gauguin--An Erotic Life. New Haven, 2001: 143-144, fig. 48.

2004: Hand, John Oliver. National Gallery of Art: Master Paintings from the Collection. Washington and New York, 2004: 372-373, no. 305, color repro.

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