Description
Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear and Pipe is the self-portrait Vincent van Gogh painted in Arles in January 1889, after the injury to his ear: a dark fur cap, a white bandage over the ear and along the jaw, a green coat and a pipe with curling smoke, set against a red lower band and an orange upper band. The original, oil on canvas, measures 51 x 45 cm and is in a private collection. 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 measurements, and send you a photograph of the finished painting for approval before dispatch.
| Title: | Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear and Pipe |
| Other titles: | Selbstbildnis mit Pelzmütze, verbundenem Ohr und Pfeife · F529 |
| Painter: | Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890) |
| Year painted: | January 1889, Arles |
| Original size: | 51 cm x 45 cm |
| Original technique: | Oil on canvas |
| Painting style: | Post-Impressionism |
| Located at: | Private collection |
| Our reproduction: | Hand-painted oil on canvas, 16 sizes or made to measure |
Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear and Pipe – Vincent van Gogh
What does Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear and Pipe show?
Van Gogh fills the canvas with his head and shoulders, seen close up and turned slightly to our right. On his head sits a thick cap of black fur with a blue-violet crown. A broad white bandage comes out from under the cap on our left, covers the ear and runs down along the jaw. The face is painted in yellow and orange with green shadows, the lips are red, and his grey-blue eyes are turned towards us.
A pipe with a dark brown bowl sits in the corner of his mouth, and from it the smoke rises in yellow and red curls towards the upper right. He wears a dark green coat buttoned to the neck, with a lighter green edge along the opening, a round button low down on the front and a glimpse of white collar at the throat. Behind him the wall is split in two: a deep red band fills the lower part, and an orange band runs across the top, the line between them running at about the height of his eyes.
Why does the bandage seem to be on his right ear in Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear and Pipe?
Because Van Gogh most probably painted his self-portraits from a mirror. The English Wikipedia article on the portraits of Vincent van Gogh notes that they most probably show his face as it appeared in the mirror he used, so his right side in the painting is in reality the left side of his face. The bandaged ear, on our left and so looking like his right ear, is therefore his left.
The same article places this canvas in his Arles period, in January 1889, as oil on canvas measuring 51 x 45 cm. It also records Hulsker’s view that Van Gogh was shaved after his admission to hospital following the injury to his ear, as can be seen in the two portraits with the bandaged ear.
What does Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear and Pipe tell us about Van Gogh?
It shows him back at work after the injury and his stay in hospital. Wikipedia calls his dozens of self-portraits an important part of his work as a painter, and this one belongs to the small group painted in Arles: in January 1889 he made two self-portraits with the bandaged ear, this one with the pipe and a second one with an easel and a Japanese print behind him.
The injury also changed how he showed himself afterwards. According to Wikipedia, all the self-portraits he painted later in Saint-Rémy show his head from the left, that is from the side with the ear that was not hurt. In both January portraits, by contrast, the bandaged side of his face is turned towards the viewer.
Where is the original today?
The original is in a private collection. Wikipedia’s list of his self-portraits gives it as January 1889, oil on canvas, 51 x 45 cm, private collection, under the catalogue number F529. The Vincent van Gogh Gallery website (vggallery.com) gives this self-portrait the same title, oil on canvas, 51.0 x 45.0 cm, Arles, January 1889, with the two catalogue numbers F 529 and JH 1658.
Those numbers come from the two standard catalogues of his work, by de la Faille and by Hulsker, and they are the surest way to tell this canvas from the other bandaged-ear self-portrait, which is F527.
Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear and Pipe or Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear – which should you choose?
The two belong together, so here is the difference in one line: choose this one for a close-up face with the pipe and its smoke against bands of red and orange, or choose Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear for the version without the pipe, with an easel and a Japanese print behind him. Both date from January 1889 in Arles, and both show the fur cap and the bandage.
If you would like another face for company, our range has more. Self-Portrait as an Artist, painted in Paris, shows him at the easel with palette and brushes, and Self-Portrait with Grey Felt Hat is one he painted in Paris in 1887. Portrait of Dr. Félix Rey is a portrait he painted in Arles in 1889.
How is our hand-painted Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear and Pipe made?
The painter first draws the head, the cap, the bandage, the pipe and the line of the shoulders, and checks the proportions against the original. Then come the two bands of the background, red below and orange above, then the green coat and the face, and last the fur, the white bandage, the pipe and the smoke. Our oil painting reproduction is painted by hand on canvas, with real impasto: the paint goes on thickly, so the brushstrokes stand up from the canvas as they do in the original and catch the light.
On this painting the relief shows most in the dabs of the black fur, in the long strokes of the coat and in the curls of smoke over the red and orange. A print is completely flat; on our painting every stroke is 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: 40 x 44 or 50 x 55 cm for a narrow wall in a hallway or a study, 70 x 80 or 80 x 90 cm above a chest of drawers or a desk, and 100 x 110 or 118 x 130 cm above a sofa or on a large wall.
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 is about 45 cm wide and 51 cm high, so 40 x 44 cm is a little smaller than Van Gogh painted it and 50 x 55 cm a little larger. The 80 x 90 cm size keeps his proportions almost exactly at about one and three quarter times the size, and 160 x 180 cm at about three and a half times. Because the canvas is nearly square, the head reads well both on a narrow wall and as the centre of a wider arrangement. A painting for the living room should cover about two thirds of the width of the furniture below it.
Place the centre of the canvas about 150 cm above the floor, so the painter’s eyes are close to your own. Above a sofa, a bed or a sideboard, leave 20 to 30 cm between the top of the furniture and the bottom of the canvas.
What if I need a custom size or a frame?
If none of the 16 sizes fits your wall, we paint it to measure in any width and height you need. Send us the width and height you want and we will quote you a price and a delivery time. Every painting we make is mounted on a wooden stretcher, ready to hang.
Our 3D app shows each of our frame profiles on this painting, so you can compare gold, silver, black, white and natural wood. The app is for choosing the frame only. To see the painting on your own wall, use our separate room placement service. A black frame repeats the fur cap, while a gold one picks up the orange band and the smoke.
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 on its stretcher, carefully packed (and framed, if you chose a frame), across the EU with no customs duty. Before dispatch we send you a photograph of the finished painting to approve, and we correct anything that is not right. Our returns policy applies to every order.
You will find more of Van Gogh’s famous works among all our Vincent van Gogh paintings, and more about the painter in our article on Vincent van Gogh. If it is a present and you are not sure of the size, a wall art voucher lets the recipient choose.
Frequently asked questions
Where is the original Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear and Pipe today?
In a private collection. Wikipedia’s list of Van Gogh’s self-portraits gives it as January 1889, oil on canvas, 51 x 45 cm, private collection, catalogue number F529, and the Vincent van Gogh Gallery records the same canvas as F 529, JH 1658, painted in Arles. The other self-portrait with a bandaged ear, F527, is a different painting in London.
When and where did Van Gogh paint Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear and Pipe?
In Arles, in the south of France, in January 1889. Both Wikipedia’s list of his self-portraits and the Vincent van Gogh Gallery date it to that month. It was painted after his stay in hospital following the injury to his ear, which is why the bandage appears in the portrait, under the fur cap.
Which ear is bandaged in Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear and Pipe?
His left ear, even though it looks like the right one. Wikipedia explains that Van Gogh most probably painted his self-portraits from a mirror, so his right side in the painting is in reality the left side of his face. In the portrait the bandage sits on our left, under the fur cap, and runs down along the jaw.
How many self-portraits with a bandaged ear are there besides the one with the pipe?
One more. Wikipedia lists two from January 1889: this one with the pipe, 51 x 45 cm, in a private collection, and the self-portrait with bandaged ear, easel and Japanese print, 60 x 49 cm, at the Courtauld Gallery in London. Both show him in the fur cap with the bandage, but only this one has the pipe and the red and orange background.
How big is the original Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear and Pipe?
51 cm high and 45 cm wide, according to Wikipedia and the Vincent van Gogh Gallery: a small, near-square upright canvas. Our 40 x 44 cm size is a little smaller than the original and 50 x 55 cm a little larger. If you want the face larger, there are 16 sizes up to 195 x 211 cm, and custom sizes in any proportions.
What is Van Gogh wearing in Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear and Pipe?
A thick fur cap and a green winter coat. The cap is black fur with a blue-violet crown, pulled down over the white bandage, and the coat is buttoned up to the neck, with a lighter green edge, a round button and a little white collar showing. The pipe sits in the corner of his mouth, its smoke curling up to the right.
Which size of Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear and Pipe suits a living room?
Above a sofa, choose 100 x 110 or 118 x 130 cm, so that the canvas painting holds its own on a large wall and the face and the smoke read clearly from across the room. On a narrower wall, beside a bookcase or above a sideboard, 70 x 80 or 80 x 90 cm works well. For a very large wall, choose our largest size, 195 x 211 cm.
Does your Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear and Pipe have the raised brushstrokes of the original?
Yes. We paint it in impasto, building up each brushstroke in thick oil, so the surface is raised like Van Gogh’s original. You see this best in the dabs of the black fur cap, in the long strokes of the green coat and in the curls of smoke, where the relief catches the light from the side.
- Subject: Van Gogh himself in a black fur cap and a green coat, a white bandage over the ear, a pipe with curling smoke, against bands of red and orange.
- Original: January 1889, Arles, oil on canvas, 51 x 45 cm, private collection.
- 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 app shows every frame profile on this self-portrait, so you can choose the frame before you order.
