Among his collection of works, Van Gogh created close to 50 known portrait paintings. While some unfortunately have been lost, there are many others that hang on the walls of museums showing the faces of people who once knew the artist.
Over the past month, there has been a lot of coverage in the news about a Van Gogh self-portrait (Self Portrait with Straw Hat, 1887) which is now thought by the Van Gogh Museum to be a portrait not of Vincent, but instead of his brother Theo van Gogh.
Dr. Paul Gachet was Vincent’s doctor during the last few months of his life. Gachet treated Van Gogh in Auvers-sur-Oise the small town just outside Paris where Van Gogh was living. Working in Paris, Gachet knew many of Van Gogh’s contemporaries including Renoir, Manet, Cezanne and Pissarro.
