Self-Portrait with a Straw Hat, 1887. Vincent van Gogh. Oil on canvas. Bequest of Miss Adelaide Milton de Groot (1876-1967), 1967.
Van Gogh produced more than twenty self-portraits during his Parisian sojourn (1886–88). Short of funds but determined nevertheless to hone his skills as a figure painter, he became his own best sitter: "I purposely bought a good enough mirror to work from myself, for want of a model." This picture, which shows the artist's awareness of Neo-Impressionist technique and color theory, is one of several that are painted on the reverse of an earlier peasant study.