Vincent van Gogh – The Painter on His Way to Work

The Painter on His Way to Work is the self-portrait Vincent van Gogh painted in Arles in the summer of 1888: the painter in a straw hat strides along a sunlit road, laden with his painting gear, while his long dark shadow falls across the road and two trees frame yellow fields under a turquoise sky. The original no longer exists; it was lost in the Second World War and is believed to have been destroyed. We paint it by hand in oil on canvas, in 16 sizes from 40 x 44 to 195 x 211 cm or to your own measurement, and send you a photograph of the finished work for approval before dispatch.

The Painter on His Way to Work – Vincent van Gogh

What does The Painter on His Way to Work show?

The painting shows Van Gogh himself, alone on a country road in full sun. He wears a wide straw hat and blue work clothes and strides forward with his gear: a flat, pale bundle under one arm, a red box on his back, a pole across his shoulder and a long stick slanting down to the road. Behind him, to the right, a long black shadow stretches out over the road, the darkest shape in the whole painting.

Two trees stand on either side of the road, the left one with a dark trunk and branches against the sky, the right one with a reddish trunk and a dense green crown cut off by the top edge. Between them lie bands of yellow and orange wheat, a strip of green field and, far off, a blue band on the horizon with dark upright trees. The sky is a clear turquoise green with a small white cloud in the top right corner. The road itself is laid in short dabs of yellow, orange, red and blue.

As the original is lost, everything said here about its colours comes from reproductions of it, such as the one our painters work from.

What did Van Gogh write about this painting?

He mentioned it in a letter to his brother Theo, written in Arles on or about 13 August 1888. A second lieutenant he knew was about to take a roll of 36 studies to Theo in Paris, and Van Gogh listed a few of them: in his words, there was a quick sketch he had made of himself laden with boxes, sticks and a canvas on the sunny Tarascon road.

That sentence is where the painting’s other English title comes from, The Painter on the Road to Tarascon. It is not known exactly where on that road he stood.

What does the painting mean?

It is a self-portrait, but a full-length one, set outdoors rather than in the studio. According to the Wikipedia article on The Painter on the Road to Tarascon, it shows the artist on his way to work, and it is thought to be the first self-portrait he painted during his time in Arles. Instead of his face, the subject is the painter’s working day: the gear he carried, the road, the sunlit fields and the shadow he threw on the ground.

What happened to the original?

The original no longer exists. According to Wikipedia, the Kaiser-Friedrich-Museum in Magdeburg, today the Kulturhistorisches Museum Magdeburg, bought it in 1912, which made it one of the first Van Gogh paintings to enter a public collection. It was photographed in colour in the 1930s, then still an uncommon and costly practice.

During the Second World War the museum’s collection was moved to a salt mine at Stassfurt, to protect it from Allied bombing. In April 1945, after American forces had reached the site, fires broke out in the mine; reports by the Monuments Men said its contents had been entirely reduced to ashes, although part of the collection was recovered after the war. The painting is believed to have been destroyed, and the Monuments Men Foundation lists it as missing. The museum has reported it to the German Lost Art database as a war loss, with a height of 49 cm and a width of 45 cm.

The Painter on His Way to Work or another self-portrait – which to choose?

Three other self-portraits are in our range. Self-Portrait as an Artist is from his Paris years, and in it he shows himself at the easel with his palette. Self-Portrait with Grey Felt Hat is also from Paris, from 1887, and Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear was painted in Arles in 1889. Choose The Painter on His Way to Work if you want the whole figure outdoors in a summer landscape rather than a head and shoulders close up.

The Yellow House is also from Arles in 1888 and shows the house where he lived and worked.

How is our hand-painted Painter on His Way to Work made?

The painter first sets out the road, the line of the fields, the two trees and the striding figure with its shadow. Then come the turquoise sky, the bands of yellow and green, and last the dabs of the road, the straw hat, the blue clothes and the gear he carries. Our oil painting reproduction is painted by hand in oil on canvas with real impasto: the paint goes on thickly, so the brushstrokes stand up from the canvas and catch the light.

On this painting the relief matters most in the road, where every dab of colour is a small raised stroke, in the leaves of the right-hand tree and in the wheat behind the figure. A print shows only a flat surface; on our painting the strokes are real.

Every painting is a hand-painted copy made for your order, so no two are quite the same.

Which size for which wall?

Short answer: 60 x 70 or 70 x 80 cm above a sideboard, a desk or a bed, 100 x 110 or 118 x 130 cm above a sofa, and 195 x 211 cm for a large wall. The upright, almost square format suits a hallway, a narrow wall between two windows or a study.

There are 16 sizes: 40 x 44, 50 x 55, 60 x 70, 70 x 80, 80 x 90, 85 x 95, 90 x 100, 100 x 110, 109 x 120, 118 x 130, 127 x 140, 136 x 150, 150 x 165, 160 x 180, 172 x 200 and 195 x 211 cm (width x height). The original was about 45 cm wide and 49 cm high, so it lay between our 40 x 44 and 50 x 55 cm sizes. With its yellows, turquoise and the deep blue of the clothes, it sits well on a white, light grey or pale blue wall. The smallest size, 40 x 44 cm, fits above a bedside table or on a bookshelf. A painting for the living room should take up about two thirds of the width of the furniture below it.

Hang it with the centre of the canvas about 150 cm above the floor, leaving 20 to 30 cm between the furniture and the bottom edge.

What if I need a custom size or a frame?

If none of the 16 sizes fits your wall, we paint it to measure. Keep the proportions close to the original, otherwise the figure gets squeezed or the road stretched. Send us the width and height you want and we will quote a price and a lead time. Every painting we make is stretched over a wooden stretcher and ready to hang.

For the moulding, use our 3D application: it shows each of our frame profiles on this subject, so you can compare gold, silver, black, white and natural wood – the application is for choosing the frame only. Seeing the painting on your own wall is our separate room placement service. A gold frame picks up the yellow of the road and the wheat, and a white or light wood frame keeps the summer light of the painting.

How does delivery work, and what is the guarantee?

Every painting is made to order in our studio in Slovenia, so allow 15 to 45 days depending on the size you choose. We ship it stretched and protected, framed if you chose a frame, across the EU with no customs. Before dispatch you receive a photograph of the finished work to approve, and we correct anything that is not right. Our returns policy applies to every order.

You will find more famous Van Gogh paintings among all our Vincent van Gogh paintings, and there is more about the painter in our article on Vincent van Gogh. If you are giving it as a present and are not sure of the size, a wall art voucher lets the recipient choose.

Frequently asked questions

What happened to the original of The Painter on His Way to Work?

It was lost in the Second World War and is believed to have been destroyed. The Kaiser-Friedrich-Museum in Magdeburg had bought it in 1912; during the war its collection was moved to a salt mine at Stassfurt, where fires broke out in April 1945. Part of the collection was recovered, but this painting was not, and the Monuments Men Foundation lists it as missing.

When and where did Van Gogh paint The Painter on His Way to Work?

In Arles, in the south of France, in the summer of 1888. He mentioned it in a letter to his brother Theo written on or about 13 August 1888, as a quick sketch of himself on the sunny Tarascon road, laden with boxes, sticks and a canvas. It was in a roll of 36 studies that a second lieutenant he knew was taking to Theo in Paris.

Why is The Painter on His Way to Work also called The Painter on the Road to Tarascon?

Because of Van Gogh’s own words. In his letter of about 13 August 1888 he described it as a sketch of himself on the sunny Tarascon road, and the painting is known by both titles. Exactly where on that road he stood is not known.

How big was the original of The Painter on His Way to Work?

According to the Lost Art database entry made by the museum in Magdeburg, it was 49 cm high and 45 cm wide, an upright, almost square format. Our 40 x 44 and 50 x 55 cm sizes come closest to it, and there are larger sizes up to 195 x 211 cm, as well as custom sizes painted to measure. Above a sofa, 100 x 110 or 118 x 130 cm is a good choice.

How are the colours of The Painter on His Way to Work known if the original is lost?

From reproductions made while it still existed. According to Wikipedia, the painting was photographed in colour in the 1930s, at a time when that was uncommon and costly. Our painters work from such a reproduction, so the yellow road, the turquoise sky, the blue clothes and the black shadow are painted as the surviving reproductions show them, not invented.

What does Francis Bacon have to do with The Painter on His Way to Work?

According to Wikipedia, the painting was an especially important inspiration for the painter Francis Bacon. In 1956 and 1957 he made a series of paintings based on it, more than ten years after the original was lost in the Second World War. The same article says the work has influenced numerous modern artists.

Does your painting of The Painter on His Way to Work have the raised brushstrokes of the original?

Yes. We paint our copy in impasto: the paint goes on thickly, so the brushstrokes stand up from the canvas in the way Van Gogh laid his paint on. You see it best in the dabs of colour on the road, in the leaves of the tree on the right and in the wheat fields behind the figure, where the relief catches the light and changes as you walk past.

Is The Painter on His Way to Work a good gift?

It suits someone who paints, sketches or simply sets off to work every day, and someone drawn to Van Gogh’s months in Arles or to the story of a painting that survives only in reproductions. As a canvas painting in yellow, turquoise and blue, it brings a summer road into a hallway, a study or a studio, and a voucher lets the recipient choose the size.

• Subject: Van Gogh in a straw hat and blue clothes, walking along a sunlit road with his painting gear, his long shadow beside him, between two trees and yellow fields.
• Original: 1888, Arles, 49 x 45 cm, formerly Kaiser-Friedrich-Museum, Magdeburg; lost in the Second World War.
• Ours: a Van Gogh reproduction painted by hand in oil on canvas, in 16 sizes from 40 x 44 to 195 x 211 cm or made to measure.
• Worth knowing: our 3D application shows the painting in each of our frame profiles before you order.