Hand-painted in oil
About this Artwork
A sitter named in two titles, both from one year
The record dates Portrait of Alexander Reid to 1887. The name appears in two titles in this catalogue and both are dated 1887. Named sitters are a Paris and Provence habit here: of the thirty titles that begin portrait of, seven are dated 1887 and twelve dated 1888.
What the record gives
The canvas measures 41.5 by 33.5 centimetres, a small upright, and it is held by the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum in Glasgow, which holds two works in this catalogue, dated 1886 and 1887. The measured palette reads as ochre and yellow.
1887, the ochre peak
Ochre dominates twenty-one of the ninety-five works dated 1887 — the highest count of any year in the catalogue, matched only by 1889 at twenty-one. Since no works dated 1884 return the family at all, the whole of that rise happens between 1884 and 1887. That is the kind of claim this catalogue can make, because it is arithmetic over its own records. How the portrait came about, and for whom, are not questions the record answers, and no answer is offered here.
Sources
4 references- Vincent van Gogh — Wikipedia
Vincent Willem van Gogh (Dutch: [ˈvɪnsɛnt ˈʋɪləɱ vɑŋ ˈɣɔx] ; 30 March 1853 – 29 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who is among the most famous and influential figures in the history of Western art. In just over a decade he c
- Portrait of Alexander Reid — Wikidata
description: painting by Vincent van Gogh (F343); inception: 1887-05; dimensions: 42 × 33 cm; collection: Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum
- Alexander Reid (art dealer) — Wikipedia
Alexander Reid (1854–1928) was a Glasgow art dealer and amateur artist, and friend of James Abbott McNeill Whistler and Vincent van Gogh. He was one of the most influential art dealers in Europe in the early 20th century, exhibiting and sel
- Vincent van Gogh Portrait of Alexander Reid 01 — Wikimedia Commons
High-resolution image of the work, hosted on Wikimedia Commons.
