This week Van Gogh’s painting of the week is: Marguerite Gachet at the Piano.
In 1889 Van Gogh left Arles and he voluntarily entered Saint-Paul-de-Mausole, a psychiatric facility in nearby Saint-Rémy-de-Provence. During his stay in the asylum Vincent painted a lot of landscapes. At first he painted the view from his room and the hallway of the hospital. Later during his treatment he was allowed to leave the institution to paint the surrounding landscapes.
Because Vincent didn't have much opportunity to paint portraits, he was very happy to move to Auvers, where Dr. Gachet welcomed him into his home for lively discussions. Dr. Gachet provided Vincent with models for his portraits. Vincent painted this portrait of Dr. Gachet’s daughter who was 21 at that time: Marguerite at the Piano. He wrote to Theo about this portrait:
“I painted Mlle Gachet's portrait ... the dress is red, and the wall behind her is green with orange spots. The carpet is red with green spots and the piano dark violet. I enjoyed painting her very much, but it was difficult.”
Vincent painted several portraits of Marguerite Gachet, he also painted a portait of her while she was sitting in the wheat. He tried to express the real characters of his models by playing with color schemes. Vincent was aware of the fact that portraits were not very interesting for art collectors, but he found them very useful:
“I have always believed that paintings portraits can teach one to learn to think. It is what the collectors like least, but they are often useful and sometimes even enjoyable; almost like an old piece of familiar furniture, they remind one of former things.”
In Auvers, Dr. Gachet was Vincent’s only male sitter, his portraits were almost all of young women.
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