Dutch Post-Impressionist painter Vincent van Gogh painted a self-portrait in oil on canvas in September 1889.

[4] This self-portrait was one of about 32 produced over a 10-year period, and these were an important part of his work as a painter;[1][2] he painted himself because he often lacked the money to pay for models.

"[8] Walther and Rainer Metzger consider that "the picture is not a pretty pose nor a realistic record ... [it is] one that has seen too much jeopardy, too much turmoil, to be able to keep its agitation and trembling under control.

[10] The Musée d'Orsay in Paris, who obtained the picture in 1986,[11] noted that "the model's immobility contrasts with the undulating hair and beard, echoed and amplified in the hallucinatory arabesques of the background.

[14] The Museum's report stated that "The Oslo self-portrait depicts someone who is mentally ill; his timid, sideways glance is easily recognisable and is often found in patients suffering from depression and psychosis".