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Orphan Man with Top Hat
A profile portrait of an elderly man with prominent white whiskers wearing a top hat.
ArtistVincent van Gogh
Year1882
TypeGraphite drawing with white heightening on cream wove paper
Dimensions40 cm × 24.5 cm (15.7 in × 9.6 in)
LocationWorcester Art Museum, Worcester, Massachusetts, (F954, JH287).[1][2]

Adrianus Jacobus Zuyderland was Vincent van Gogh's favorite model during his Hague period. He appears in dozens of drawings, easily identified by his bald head and prominent white whiskers, and he was the model for the drawing which was the basis for van Gogh's later iconic painting At Eternity's Gate.[3][4]

Background

An old man in a long overcoat with an umbrella seen from the back. His white hair reaches his collar and he is wearing a cap.
Orphan Man with Long Overcoat and Umbrella, Seen from the Back, sketch in letter 268 (R14), September 1882, Private collection, United States (JH214).[Works 1][Letters 1]

A. J. Zuyderland was born at The Hague ca. 1810 and fought in the Ten days' campaign in 1831 against the Belgian secessionists and French troops supporting them, where he received nl:Metalen Kruis 1830-1831 award, which he usually wears on his portraits. He registered at an almshouse in 1876.[5]

He is first mentioned by van Gogh in a letter to Anthon van Rappard, dated around 19 September 1882: "... I’ve also been painting and watercoloring, and in addition I’m drawing many figures from the model as well as scratches [i.e. 'sketches'] on the street. Lately I’ve quite often had a man from the Old Men’s Home to pose.[Letters 2]

The "Old Men's Home" was the Nederlands Hervormd Oude-mannen-en-vrouwenhuis in the Om en Bij, The Hague,[6] and Zuyderland was subsequently identified by W. J. A. Visser in their records from the identification tab 399 on his right arm that can be made out in Orphan Man with Top Hat, and which also appears in a letter sketch (left).[7][8][Letters 1]

References

Works

  1. ↑ Brooks, D. "Orphan Man with Long Overcoat and Umbrella, Seen from the Back". The Vincent van Gogh Gallery, endorsed by Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam. David Brooks (self-published).

Letters

  1. 1 2 "Letter 268: To Anthon van Rappard. The Hague, on or about Saturday, 23 September 1882". Vincent van Gogh: The Letters. Van Gogh Museum. Note 12. It isn't easy to do the types one comes across on the street.
  2. ↑ "To Anthon van Rappard. The Hague, on or about Tuesday, 19 September 1882". Vincent van Gogh: The Letters. Van Gogh Museum. Note 12. Lately I've quite often had a man from the Old Men's Home to pose

General

  1. ↑ "Portrait of a Man in a Top Hat". Worcester Art Museum. Retrieved 23 February 2012.
  2. ↑ Brooks, D. "Orphan Man with Top Hat". The Vincent van Gogh Gallery, endorsed by Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam. David Brooks (self-published). Retrieved 23 February 2012.
  3. ↑ Hulsker, Jan (1986). The Complete Van Gogh: Paintings, Drawings, Sketches. Random House. p. 58. ISBN 0-517-44867-X.
  4. ↑ Naifeh, Steven; White Smith, Gregory (2011). Van Gogh: The Life. Random House. p. 318. ISBN 0-375-50748-5.
  5. ↑ http://www.vggallery.com/drawings/p_0954.htm
  6. ↑ "Historische armenzorgwandeling Den Haag" (PDF) (in Dutch). Diaconie Den Haag. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 February 2014. Retrieved 23 February 2012.
  7. ↑ W.J.A. Visser, ‘Vincent van Gogh en ’s-Gravenhage’, Geschiedkundige Vereniging Die Haghe. Jaarboek 1973. The Hague 1973, pp. 1-125.
  8. ↑ Hulsker, Jan. The Complete Van Gogh. Oxford: Phaidon, 1980. p. 60. ISBN 0-7148-2028-8

Further reading

  • de la Faille, Jacob-Baart. The Works of Vincent Van Gogh: His Paintings and Drawings. Amsterdam: Meulenhoff, 1970. ISBN 978-1-55660-811-7
  • Naifeh, Steven; Smith, Gregory White. Van Gogh: The Life. Profile Books, 2011. ISBN 978-1-84668-010-6
  • Pomerans, Arnold. The Letters of Vincent van Gogh. Penguin Classics, 2003. ISBN 978-0-14-044674-6
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