''Self-Portrait with Halo and Snake'', also known as ''Self-Portrait'', is an 1889 oil-on-wood painting by French artist

Paul Gauguin Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin (, ; ; 7 June 1848 – 8 May 1903) was a French Post-Impressionist artist. Unappreciated until after his death, Gauguin is now recognized for his experimental use of colour and Synthetist style that were distinct fr ...

, which represents his late

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica during the period ...

period in the fishing village of Le Pouldu in northwestern France. No longer comfortable with

Pont-Aven Pont-Aven (, Breton: 'River Bridge') is a commune in the Finistère department in the Brittany region in Northwestern France. In 2019, it had a population of 2,821. Demographics Inhabitants of Pont-Aven are called ''Pontavenistes'' in French ...

, Gauguin moved on to Le Pouldu with his friend and student

Meijer de Haan Meijer Isaac de Haan (Amsterdam, April 14, 1852 – Amsterdam, October 24, 1895) was a Dutch painter. In French the name was written Meyer de Haan. Biography He was born into a successful Jewish family of bread and matzo bakers who held to conse ...

and a small group of artists. He stayed for several months in the autumn of 1889 and the summer of 1890, where the group spent their time decorating the interior of Marie Henry's inn with every major type of art work. Gauguin painted his ''Self-Portrait'' in the dining room with its companion piece, ''Portrait of Jacob Meyer de Haan'' (1889). The painting shows Gauguin against a red background with a halo above his head and apples hanging beside him as he holds a snake in his hand while plants or flowers appear in the foreground. The

religious symbolism A religious symbol is an iconic representation intended to represent a specific religion, or a specific concept within a given religion. Religious symbols have been used in the military in many countries, such as the United States military chapl ...

and the stylistic influence of Japanese wood-block prints and

cloisonnism Cloisonnism is a style of post-Impressionist painting with bold and flat forms separated by dark contours. The term was coined by critic Édouard Dujardin on the occasion of the Salon des Indépendants, in March 1888. Artists Émile Bernard, Lou ...

are apparent. The portrait was completed several years before Gauguin visited Tahiti and is one of more than 40 self-portraits he completed during his lifetime."Altogether, he made more than 40 self-portraits." See
Two Faces of Paul Gauguin
. National Gallery of Art. The work reached the art market in 1919 when Marie Henry sold it at the

Galerie Barbazanges The Galerie Barbazanges was an art gallery in Paris that exhibited contemporary art between 1911 and 1928. The building was owned by a wealthy fashion designer, Paul Poiret, and the gallery was used for Poiret's "Salon d'Antin" exhibitions. The gal ...

in Paris as part of her collected works from the Le Pouldu period. American banker

Chester Dale Chester Dale (May 3, 1883 – December 16, 1962) was an American banker and patron of the arts. Dale earned large sums from working for the New York Stock Exchange, allowing him to collect 19th and 20th-century French paintings. Although he consi ...

acquired the painting in 1928, gifting it upon his death in 1962 to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.

Background

(1848–1903) was a French Post-Impressionist artist and figure in the Symbolist movement known for his contributions to the Synthetist style. In 1886, he spent the summer in

in Brittany, an artists colony that became known as the

Pont-Aven School Pont-Aven School (french: École de Pont-Aven, br, Skol Pont Aven) encompasses works of art influenced by the Breton town of Pont-Aven and its surroundings. Originally the term applied to works created in the artists' colony at Pont-Aven, which s ...

for Gauguin's influence and the work they produced. In late 1888, Gauguin painted for nine weeks with

Vincent van Gogh Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who posthumously became one of the most famous and influential figures in Western art history. In a decade, he created about 2,100 artworks, inc ...

at his Yellow House in

Arles Arles (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Arle ; Classical la, Arelate) is a coastal city and commune in the South of France, a subprefecture in the Bouches-du-Rhône department of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, in the former province of ...

in the south of France before van Gogh had a breakdown, leading him to cut off his ear and be hospitalized. Gauguin left Arles and never saw van Gogh again, but they continued to exchange letters and ideas. Buvette de la Plage Le Pouldu

He briefly returned to Paris where he lived with painter

Émile Schuffenecker Claude-Émile Schuffenecker (8 December 1851 – 31 July 1934) was a French Post-Impressionist artist, painter, art teacher and art collector. A friend of Paul Gauguin and Odilon Redon, and one of the first collectors of works by Vincent van ...

, but returned to Pont-Aven in the spring of 1889 only to find it too crowded. Gauguin moved farther away "to escape the tourists and the Parisian and foreign painters" and arrived at Le Pouldu on October 2, 1889. He found lodgings with

at Buvette de la Plage, an inn run by Marie Henry. De Haan introduced Gauguin to Thomas Carlyle's novel ''

Sartor Resartus ''Sartor Resartus: The Life and Opinions of Herr Teufelsdröckh in Three Books'' is an 1831 novel by the Scottish essayist, historian and philosopher Thomas Carlyle, first published as a serial in ''Fraser's Magazine'' in November 1833 – Augus ...

'' (1836) by way of conversation. Although he would not read the novel for several more years, Gauguin became acquainted with Carlyle's ideas which would influence his approach to art during this time. The interior of Marie Henry's inn became their canvas, and they painted their work on the walls, ceilings, and windows.Welsh, Robert (2001) "Gauguin and the Inn of Marie Henry at Pouldu". In Eric M. Zafran (Ed.) ''Gauguin's Nirvana: Painters at Le Pouldu 1889–90''. pp. 61–80. Yale University Press. . . They were later joined by artists

Paul Sérusier Paul Sérusier (9 November 1864 – 7 October 1927) was a French painter who was a pioneer of abstract art and an inspiration for the avant-garde Nabis movement, Synthetism and Cloisonnism. Education Sérusier was born in Paris. He studied ...

and

Charles Filiger Charles Filiger (28 November 1863, Thann – 11 January 1928, Brest) was a French Symbolist painter. He was one of the artists who associated with Gauguin at Pont-Aven in Brittany. Biography The son of a wallpaper manufacturer in Mulhouse, Fili ...

. According to Nora M. Heimann, when the room was completed, it "encompassed paintings of every major type—genre, landscape, self-portraiture, portraiture, still life, and even history painting—in media ranging from tempera and oil on plaster to oil on canvas and panel; as well as prints and drawings; painted and glazed ceramic vessels; exotic found objects; and carved, polychromed figures in wood." Gauguin Meyer de Haan

Gauguin tried to win the affection of Marie Henry, the innkeeper, but she spurned his advances and became intimate with de Haan instead, leaving Gauguin jealous. Gauguin departed on November 7, 1890, leaving his work at Marie Henry's inn.Gauguin sued to get his work back from Marie Henry but lost the case. See Welsh-Ovcharov, Bogomila (2001). "Paul Gauguin's Third Visit to Brittany – June 1889 – November 1890". p. 28 in Eric M. Zafran (Ed.) ''Gauguin's Nirvana: Painters at Le Pouldu 1889–90''. She retired in 1893 and moved to Kerfany, taking many of the art works with her. She continued to lease the inn until 1911 when she sold it. When the new owner was redecorating the inn in 1924, which by then had been converted into a restaurant, the rest of the murals were discovered buried intact under wallpaper.

Development

Van Gogh had previously decorated rooms with his paintings, in particular the rooms of several restaurants in Paris and the Yellow House in Arles. Gauguin and de Haan appear to have been influenced by this work, as they began decorating the dining room of Buvette de la Plage in a similar fashion. Gauguin's ''Self-Portrait'' was prepared along with its

pendant A pendant is a loose-hanging piece of jewellery, generally attached by a small loop to a necklace, which may be known as a "pendant necklace". A pendant earring is an earring with a piece hanging down. Its name stems from the Latin word ' ...

, ''Portrait of Jacob Meyer de Haan'' (1889), to the right and left respectively of a fireplace on the upper panels of two wooden cupboard doors. Gauguin gave the panels a subtle, textured matte surface using white chalk ground and a combed wave pattern. Both works were completed sometime between mid-November and mid-December 1889.Heimann, Nora M. (Summer 2012).
Spinner or Saint: Context and Meaning in Gauguin's First Fresco
" ''Nineteenth-Century Art Worldwide'', 11 (2).Jirat-Wasiutynski, Vojtech; H. Travers Newton Jr. (2000). ''Technique and Meaning in the Paintings of Paul Gauguin''. Cambridge University Press. pp. 172–179. . .

Description

French art historian

Françoise Cachin Françoise Cachin (8 May 1936, Paris – 4 February 2011, Paris) was a French art historian and curator. She was the founding director of the Musée d’Orsay and the author of numerous books on 19th-century French painting. Life Françoise ...

notes that Gauguin designed both ''Self-Portrait with Halo and Snake'' and its companion piece ''Portrait of Jacob Meyer de Haan'' as a caricature.Cachin, Françoise (1988). "Self-portrait with Halo". In Richard Brettell, Françoise Cachin, Claire Frèches-Thory, and Charles F. Stuckey (Ed.), ''The Art of Paul Gauguin'' (pp. 56, 165–167). National Gallery of Art. . In his ''Self-Portrat'', Gauguin appears against a red background with a halo above his head and apples hanging beside him as he holds a snake in his hand with what appear to be either plants or flowers in the foreground.Jirat-Wasiutyński, Vojtěc (Spring 1987).
Paul Gauguin's 'Self-Portrait with Halo and Snake': The Artist as Initiate and Magus
" ''Art Journal'', 46 (1): 22–28. Curator Philip Conisbee observes the

in the images, noting that the "apples and snake refer to the Garden of Eden, temptation, sin, and the

Fall of Man The fall of man, the fall of Adam, or simply the Fall, is a term used in Christianity to describe the transition of the first man and woman from a state of innocent obedience to God to a state of guilty disobedience. * * * * The doctrine of the ...

." Conisbee, Philip (November 22, 2013)
Self-Portrait, Gauguin
National Gallery of Art. Event begins at 0.54. Retrieved June 20, 2015. Gauguin divides the canvas in half, painting himself as both saint and sinner, reflecting his own personal myth as an artist. In the top portion of the painting, Gauguin is almost angelic with the halo, looking away from the apples of temptation. In the bottom portion, he holds the snake, completing the duality.Maurer, Naomi E. (1998). ''The Pursuit of Spiritual Wisdom: The Thought and Art of Vincent Van Gogh and Paul Gauguin''. Fairleigh Dickinson University Press. pp. 79–82, 134–136. .Matheny, Lynn Kellmanson (2011).
Gauguin: Maker of Myth
" Exhibition brochure. National Gallery of Art. PaulGauguin384

Jirat-Wasiutyński notes that art historian Denys Sutton was the first critic to interpret Gauguin's self-portrait as "demonic". This interpretation is illustrated by the pendant, the companion piece ''Portrait of Jacob Meyer de Haan'' (1889), which visually complements the ''Self-Portrait''. De Haan's devilish eyes and red hair shaped like horns in his portrait on the left side of the dining room where it was created ''in situ'', corresponds to the snake held in Gauguin's hand in his self-portrait on the right door of the dining room. Two books appear on the table in de Haan's portrait: '' Paradise Lost'' (1667–74) by seventeenth-century English poet John Milton, and ''

'' by

Thomas Carlyle Thomas Carlyle (4 December 17955 February 1881) was a Scottish essayist, historian and philosopher. A leading writer of the Victorian era, he exerted a profound influence on 19th-century art, literature and philosophy. Born in Ecclefechan, Dum ...

. These respective literary allusions, to Milton's Satan and to Carlyle's Diogenes Teufelsdröckh, a character described as both angelic and diabolical, play directly into de Haan's and Gauguin's corresponding self-portraits. Jirat-Wasiutyński argues that Gauguin portrays himself as a

magus Magi (; singular magus ; from Latin '' magus'', cf. fa, مغ ) were priests in Zoroastrianism and the earlier religions of the western Iranians. The earliest known use of the word ''magi'' is in the trilingual inscription written by Darius th ...

, as "both seer and demonic angel". The work shows the influence of Japanese wood-block prints and

. In the painting, Gauguin wears what art historian Henri Dorra compares to the saffron colored robe of a Buddhist monk, perhaps influenced by Van Gogh's earlier ''Self-Portrait Dedicated to Paul Gauguin'' (1888).Dorra, Henri (2007). ''The Symbolism of Paul Gauguin: Erotica, Exotica, and the Great Dilemmas of Humanity.'' University of California Press. p. 19, 124–126. . . In a letter to Gauguin dated October 3, 1888, Van Gogh describes himself in the self-portrait as "a character of a bonze, a simple worshiper of the eternal Buddha".Silverman, Deborah (2004). ''Van Gogh and Gauguin: The Search for Sacred Art''. Macmillan. p. 27, 41–42. . Compared to Gauguin's more traditional ''Self-Portrait Dedicated to Carrière'' (1888 or 1889), the self-portrait painted at Le Pouldu is more "sinister".

Provenance

Van Gogh self-portrait dedicated to Gauguin

In 1919, Marie Henry sold Gauguin's ''Self-Portrait'' as part of a batch of 14 other works to François Norgelet for a total of 35,000 francs, where it was exhibited at the

in Paris. Although ownership details are scant, the painting is thought to have passed through the hands of several owners, including London art collector Mrs. R. A. Workman and later

Lord Ivor Spencer-Churchill Lord Ivor Charles Spencer-Churchill (14 October 1898 – 17 September 1956) was the younger son of the 9th Duke of Marlborough and his first wife, the former Consuelo Vanderbilt, an American railroad heiress. His elder brother, John, was the ...

. It was sold by Churchill to the galleries Alex Reid and Lefèvre in 1923, who then sold it to Kraushaar Galleries in 1925. American banker

acquired the work in 1928. The painting was later bequeathed by Dale to the National Gallery of Art in 1962 after his death. The Chester Dale Collection opened at the National Gallery in 1965.Strieter, Terry W. (1999). ''Nineteenth-century European Art: A Topical Dictionary''. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 83–84, 225–226. . .Bruner, Louise (May 5, 1965).
Gallery Unveils Bequest of Dale
" ''Toledo Blade'', p. 32.

Notes

References

External links

{{Paul Gauguin 1889 paintings Post-impressionist paintings Paintings by Paul Gauguin Collections of the National Gallery of Art Snakes in art