Vincent Van Gogh's Self Portrait With Bandaged Ear

The painting ‘Self Portrait with Bandaged Ear’ by Vincent Van Gogh was created in January 1889. Its dimensions are 60 cm x 49 cm. Van Gogh’s portrait is oil on canvas, and is in a post-impressionist style. In this painting I can see the artist in the foreground in a three-quarter profile, with his head and shoulders visible. The artist is not smiling; rather, he looks quite concerned or worried, and he looks quite gaunt and old, not through age but through experienced (the classic ‘tortured soul’). The work is painted in sickly hues, such as blue-greens and yellow-greens, and the brush work is quite free and wavy, as is the signature style of van Gogh. The subject is wearing a large, heavy green winter overcoat with only the top button done up, over a plain brown shirt (and white undershirt?) and a blue hat with black fur. He also sports a white bandage on his right (being a mirror image, the bandage was actually on his left) ear. The bandage goes up to under the hat, and around to below the subject’s long chin. Behind the subject, in the background, there is an easel, with a blank or white-painted canvas sitting on it. On the right is a painting in the style of a Japanese woodblock print, painted in quite colourful, vibrant hues, (featuring the only red in the work), and

The hues used, as well, provoke many feelings. His use of greenish tinges in nearly all of his chosen hues seems to represent his sickness, and indeed the fact that he knew he was sick, which is a trait uncommon in the (allegedly) insane or mentally ill. This idea is supported by the fact that, after suffering a particularly bad delusional episode, van Gogh reported admitted himself to a mental institute. This artwork tells of many things, and indeed speaks to me in many voices. However, what exactly it is saying is a long and complicated subject, and is discussed clearly in the