Self-Portrait with a Straw Hat - Van Gogh

It is rather eerie to know that this is one of Van Gogh’s last self-portraits that he painted before he committed suicide. Van Gogh used a lot of his soft colors to portray himself, which adds irony to a painting full of unsettling emotions. At first glance, Self Portrait with a Straw Hat looks very simple.

Van Gogh paints a self-portrait that shows his distinct style of painting with the short brush strokes and soft colors that he used later in his life. Van Gogh's self-portrait shows himself in a straw hat. He is wearing a peasant coat that is lined in a very striking red. Other than the blood-red coloring found on his coat, face and hat, Van Gogh chose softer pastel colors for his self-portrait.

Van Gogh's painting is not as simple as it looks. At a closer look, he uses color and lighting to express how he felt at the time about himself. Van Gogh used some very striking blood reds to probably hint at poor health and anger. He used a series (blue, green and yellows) of very soft colors that might represent fading away from life. The background is really faded out and is not all that important as the few other colors. This forces the viewer to focus on his face. Also, a classic aspect of this painting is the way Van Gogh split his portrait into thirds. The top shows his hat, the middle third shows his face, and the bottom third shows his peasant coat with a shock of red.

I see an old man that is fading away. Van Gogh looks as if he could be contemplating the end of his life. The shadows on his face are indicating that he is foreseeing his own death.

Van Gogh was a painter that was able to use color to portray his emotional self. Van Gogh had the ability to make something very normal seem distinctly unsettling. This is a great painting that can’t be completely described with words. I love it because it is classic Van Gogh and it speak of the foreshadowing of his own death.