Self-Portrait with Grey Felt Hat

Painted in the winter of 1887 while Vincent van Gogh was living in Paris with his brother Theo, this self-portrait shows the artist staring directly at us with a calm but intense gaze. He wears a grey felt hat and a dark coat, his red beard and hair catching the light. What really grabs your attention, though, is the background. Those swirling lines of blue surround his head like ripples on water, an effect created by short, deliberate brushstrokes that seem to vibrate with energy.

Van Gogh painted himself dozens of times during his life, partly because he could not always afford to hire models. These self-portraits became a way for him to experiment with color and technique. Here you can see him absorbing the bold, broken brushwork of the Impressionists and Pointillists he met in Paris, then twisting it into something all his own. The colors are not random either. He carefully placed warm oranges against cool blues so each one would make the other look brighter. It is a quiet but striking glimpse of an artist figuring out the style that would soon make him famous.