London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Saturday, Aug 30, 2025

'Electrifying' Vincent van Gogh self-portrait exhibition hailed by critics

'Electrifying' Vincent van Gogh self-portrait exhibition hailed by critics

A new exhibition of self-portraits by Vincent van Gogh in London has received rave reviews from art critics.

The show was awarded five stars by The Times, The Guardian, The Telegraph, The Evening Standard and iNews.

Nineteen works feature in the show, 17 of which are self-portraits by the tortured 19th Century Dutch painter.

The Courtauld Gallery curator Dr Karen Serres said the collection was "the first to explore the full span of Van Gogh's self-portraiture".

The Guardian's Adrian Searle said it was "a magical and at times mysterious show" and "an exhibition of electrifying intimacy".

He wrote: "Toothless, bearded, haggard, injured, shaved, well fed, on the mend, jaunty, natty… this superb show cascades through the many faces of Van Gogh - and reveals the anguished brilliance that lay beneath."

He added: "It is filled with presences, absences, substitutions, and echoes of different kinds... It shows the artist at his most self-aware and at his most vulnerable. Every painting is both a kind of analysis and a rescue attempt."

Several critics noted how, despite almost all of the paintings in the show being self-portraits, the techniques and styles vary wildly.

Van Gogh, who suffered from poor mental health, took his own life in July 1890


"The only constant is that he never smiles," noted The Telegraph's Alastair Sooke

"The show proposes a new argument. It's time, it suggests, to finish off the myth of Van Gogh the mad genius, involuntarily splurging 'raw emotions' onto the canvas; rather, each self-portrait was a complex product of conscious artistic decisions.

"He painted in between crises, staring into a mirror to fortify himself and start again... More than 130 years after his death, his gaze, in paint at least, still stabs your soul."

It is widely assumed today that the painter, who took his own life in July 1890, was suffering from mental health issues during his lifetime, which influenced his work.

Rachel Campbell-Johnston of The Times said Van Gogh "paints with a force and a frankness in the belief that his work would help him to get well".

She continued: "The Courtauld has pulled off a coup. Against the pale grey walls of two small, understated galleries blaze some of the most vividly evocative self-portraits art history can offer.

"It is the soul of the artist that you find burning within them. I defy you not to feel moved. The spirit of Van Gogh haunts this show."


The Evening Standard's Ben Luke said the exhibition was "rigorous and thoughtful, with smart pairings and groupings".

"And it has a compelling argument: that we inevitably see the artist's paintings of himself through the prism of his mental health and suicide, but they should instead be seen as him pursuing a unique artistic language despite rather than because of his illness," he wrote.

"Yes, they were vehicles for expression, but it was a more rational pursuit rather than one governed only by torment."

The only critic from a major media outlet not to award the show five stars was Time Out's Eddy Frankel, who gave it four.

"He painted 35 known self-portraits, and a good chunk of them are on display in this neat little exhibition; some of them are masterpieces, some of them are total duds," Frankel wrote.

"Lots of these earlier pieces are tentative, unsure, questioning - some aren't even any good." He concluded: "What the impressionists did for light - exposed it, exalted it, wallowed in it - Van Gogh did for his own emotions. His story is tragic, but we're lucky he told it, and told it so beautifully."


In her five-star review, Hettie Judah of iNews noted how self-portraits gave Van Gogh an opportunity to experiment.

"Often, Van Gogh used himself for convenience," she wrote. "He could experiment with ideas about how to construct a modern portrait free from the pressures that might have come with a commissioned work.

"He also played with his image as an artist: in some he is a cravat-wearing bohemian in his Paris garret, in others a working painter in a heavy blue smock. There are, too, flashes and clouds of introspection."

Van Gogh Self Portraits opens at The Courtauld Gallery on Thursday and runs until 8 May.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Corporate America Cuts Middle Management as Bosses Take On Triple the Workload
Parents Sue OpenAI After Teen’s Death, Alleging ChatGPT Encouraged Suicide
Amazon Faces Lawsuit Over 'Buy' Label on Digital Streaming Content
Federal Reserve Independence Questioned Amid Trump’s Push to Reshape Central Bank
British Politics Faces Tumultuous Autumn After Summer of Rebellions and Rising Farage Momentum
US Appeals Court Rules Against Most Trump-Era Tariffs
UK Sought Broad Access to Apple Users’ Data, Court Filing Reveals
UK Bank Shares Dive Over Potential Tax on Sector
Germany’s Auto Industry Sheds 51,500 Jobs in First Half of 2025 Amid Deepening Crisis
Bruce Willis Relocated Due to Advanced Dementia
French and Korean Nuclear Majors Clash As EU Launches Foreign Subsidy Probe
EU Stands Firm on Digital Rules as Trump Warns of Retaliation
Getting Ready for the 3rd Time in Its History, Germany Approves Voluntary Military Service for Teenagers
Argentine President Javier Milei Evacuated After Stones Thrown During Campaign Event
Denmark Confronts U.S. Diplomat Over Covert Trump-Linked Influence in Greenland
Starmer Should Back Away from ECHR, Says Jack Straw
Trump Demands RICO Charges Against George Soros and Son for Funding Violent Protests
Taylor Swift Announces Engagement to NFL Star Travis Kelce
France May Need IMF Bailout, Warns Finance Minister
Chinese AI Chipmaker Cambricon Posts Record Profit as Beijing Pushes Pivot from Nvidia
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
Ukraine Finally Allows Young Men Aged Eighteen to Twenty-Two to Leave the Country
The Porn Remains, Privacy Disappears: How Britain Broke the Internet in Ten Days
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Welcome to The Definition of Insanity: Germany Edition
Just a reminder, this is Michael Jackson's daughter, Paris.
Spotify’s Strange Move: The Feature Nobody Asked For – Returns
Manhunt in Australia: Armed Anti-Government Suspect Kills Police Officers Sent to Arrest Him
China Launches World’s Most Powerful Neutrino Detector
How Beijing-Linked Networks Shape Elections in New York City
Ukrainian Refugee Iryna Zarutska Fled War To US, Stabbed To Death
Elon Musk Sues Apple and OpenAI Over Alleged App Store Monopoly
2 Australian Police Shot Dead In Encounter In Rural Victoria State
Vietnam Evacuates Hundreds of Thousands as Typhoon Kajiki Strikes; China’s Sanya Shuts Down
UK Government Delays Decision on China’s Proposed London Embassy Amid Concerns Over Redacted Plans
A 150-Year Tradition to Be Abolished? Uproar Over the Popular Central Park Attraction
A new faith called Robotheism claims artificial intelligence isn’t just smart but actually God itself
Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner Purchases Third Property Amid Housing Tax Reforms Debate
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Italian Facebook Group Sharing Intimate Images Without Consent Shut Down Amid Police Investigation
Dutch Foreign Minister Resigns Amid Deadlock Over Israel Sanctions
Trump and Allies Send Messages of Support to Ukraine on Independence Day Amid Ongoing Conflict
China Reels as Telegram Chat Group Shares Hidden-Camera Footage of Women and Children
Sam Nicoresti becomes first transgender comedian to win Edinburgh Comedy Award
Builders uncover historic human remains in Lancashire house renovation
Australia Wants to Tax Your Empty Bedrooms
MotoGP Cameraman Narrowly Avoids Pedro Acosta Crash at Hungarian Grand Prix
FBI Investigates John Bolton Over Classified Documents in High-Profile Raids
Report reveals OpenAI pitched national ChatGPT Plus subscription to UK ministers
×