To offer you even more information about the museum and Vincent van Gogh, and serve you better, we use cookies. By clicking ‘Accept’, you are giving us permission to use these cookies. Cookies help us to ensure that the website works properly. We also analyse how the website is used, so that we can make any necessary improvements. Advertisements can also be displayed tailored to your interests. And finally, we use cookies to display forms, Google Maps and other embedded content.
Find out more about our cookies.

Search the collection

This image is
unavailable

Meer informatie

Portrait of a Woman
Vincent van Gogh, December 1885

  • Download image
    • Terms and conditions (pdf)
    • To use the image for commercial purposes, please request separately
  • Share this work
    Facebook (Opens in new window) Twitter (Opens in new window) Pinterest (Opens in new window) E-mail (Opens your Emailclient)

Portrait of a Woman

Vincent van Gogh (1853 - 1890), Antwerp, December 1885

oil on canvas, 46.3 cm x 38.5 cm
Credits (obliged to state): Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (Vincent van Gogh Foundation)


Van Gogh hoped to earn some money as a portrait painter during his stay in Antwerp. He had heard that likenesses of women sold well. However, only women from the poorer segments of the population were willing to pose for an unknown painter. Van Gogh found his models among the women who worked in the port city’s cafés. They were often obliged to earn extra money as prostitutes, and this probably was the case for the woman portrayed here. Van Gogh was impressed with these ‘common’ women. He perceived an authenticity in them that he wanted to capture on canvas.

Van Gogh painted this portrait in one sitting. For the shiny earring he applied a thick blob of white-and-pink paint, which broke off later. He probably depicted the same woman in another work as well, though without jewellery and with her hair loose.

Search in the collection:

  • 1885
  • Antwerp
  • painting
  • study
  • portrait
  • Vincent van Gogh

F-number
F0207a
JH-number
JH1204
Object number
s0143V1962
Credits (obliged to state)
Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (Vincent van Gogh Foundation)
Dimensions
46.3 cm x 38.5 cm, 66.4 cm x 58.1 cm

Related work

Head of a Woman, 1885