Did van Gogh trace his self portraits from photographs?

Question

There's an article in the current issue of Seventh Hour Blues (a music magazine that also does articles on the arts) that shows how a recently discovered photo of van Gogh is very, very similar to many of his self portraits. The article posits that he used a camera lucida (or some other optical device) to use the photo as a basis for his self portraits. Do you think this is likely? Have you heard this theory?

Answer 1

Van Gogh, of course! The forensic research applied for the verification of the photograph clearly shows that the subject is Vincent himself.
Photography, which was almost 50 years old, was extreemly popular in the mid1880s. All of Vincents family members and friends were photographed. His friend, Artist, Edgar Degas, owned four or five cameras.
Yes, the world was being photographed, why not Vincent?

I wonder if your blogets would respond differently if they read the article in Seventh Hour Blues. I think a trip to a local library would also help them come up with a more logical decision. A great comparison to see is the photograph in mention and Vincent's 1887 self portrait drawing.

Opening minds in magazines like seventhhourblues.com is totally remarkable, online=more trees!

Thanks

Answer 2

Well yes, maybe. Or does this just show that a photograph of Vincent Van Gogh looks like a self-portrait of Van Gogh? A photograph of a man in period clothes is much like a painting of the same man in period clothes. Hey, but that's not so surprising that they look similar, is it? It is the same man, after all.

Answer 3

no he did not

inriguing.though that his portaits seem to be VERY similar to his pictures.

no crap idiot magazine! he's the same person. and being a huge renaissance and van gogh fan think about this: art of that period kept poses about the same for everyone. so whether it be photographs or portrait...

also most photos were taken on glass negatives at that time...i dont see how the magazine would gain access of really being able to see the portrait beside the photo and compare. pictures of both do not count

Answer 4

I consider it unlikely. Cost of cameras was expensive and Vincent was not a wealthy man. He barely made enough to eat. His sketching was quite good and it would not have been difficult to reproduce his own face many times to do his self-portraits. There is a wonderful collection of his work at the Musee de' Orsay in Paris, France

Answer 5

It is highly unlikely!

The very first cameras were large, cumbersome devices and rather expensive to own unless you made your own. It is highly unlikely that Van Gogh was inventor enough to have made his own photo equipment or wealthy enough to have brought one of those cameras.

Answer 6

Balderdash!

Answer 7

I would say unlikely.