Printed to order

Eugène Boch (The Poet) by Vincent van Gogh

Vincent van Gogh, September 1888

$100.00

Item no. PDVGW024-00

Order within 31d 09h 41m 26s to have it by ChristmasOrder by Mon, Nov 30, 11:59 PM ET

A painter friend set against a sky of stars: Van Gogh’s portrait of Eugène Boch, The Poet, on canvas, framed, or on fine art paper.

Format

Stretched canvasfrom $100 Framed canvasfrom $140 Framed printfrom $130 Fine art printfrom $80

Size

Which size fits your wall

Every size keeps the painting's own proportions. Framed sizes are measured on the outside of the frame, so the visible painting is a little smaller.

12 × 16 in 30 × 41 cm

Three-seat sofa, 84 in wide × 34 in tall (213 × 86 cm)

Size	Metric	Where it works
12 × 16 in	30 × 41 cm	Small and close-up: a shelf, a desk or a bedside table, or one of a pair on a narrow wall.
18 × 24 in	46 × 61 cm	Plays well with others: the middle of a gallery wall, a pair side by side, or a hallway on its own.
30 × 40 in	76 × 102 cm	Holds a wall on its own above a dresser, console or sideboard. Above a bed or a sofa, hang two side by side.

Rule of thumb: choose art about two-thirds the width of the furniture beneath it.

12 × 16 in30 × 41 cm 18 × 24 in46 × 61 cm 30 × 40 in76 × 102 cm

Frame

Black White Natural wood Dark wood

Make it a gift

Gift note

We write it on a card and tuck it in behind the painting. The price never appears in the box.

0 / 256

Subtotal $100.00

Printed to order in 1–3 business days
Free US shipping, tracked, 5–12 business days
30-day returns and exchanges
Damage cover included: we remake and reship

Secure payment

Questions about sizes or framing? Ask us

This portrait sets a pale face and yellow jacket against the deepest blue, and a dull copy puts out the stars. Our Van Gogh Eugène Boch print was graded beside the original so the blue stays deep and the little stars still shine.

Canvas, framed or paper

Stretched canvas. Printed on cotton canvas and stretched taut over a frame. The edges are mirror-wrapped, so the picture continues around the sides and none of it is lost to the fold.

Framed canvas. The same canvas, set in a black, white, natural wood or dark wood frame 0.83 in deep. The frame gives the work a finished edge and a little more presence on the wall.

Framed print. Printed on fine art matte paper and framed in solid pine, behind shatterproof plexiglass, in black, white, natural wood or dark wood. It arrives ready to hang. Framed sizes are measured on the outside of the frame.

Fine art print. Printed on 310gsm fine art matte paper, for framing your own way. It travels rolled and protected. From 18x24 inch.

Sizes

12x16 inch, 18x24 inch, 30x40 inch. Framed sizes are measured on the outside of the frame, so the visible painting is a little smaller.

On your wall

Its tall shape suits a study, a bedroom or a narrow wall. The deep blue and warm yellow look striking with navy, ochre and brass, and a black or gold frame suits it.

About the painting

Eugène Boch (The Poet) by Vincent van Gogh

Arles, September 1888

Eugène Boch was a young Belgian painter whom Vincent van Gogh met in the summer of 1888. For weeks Vincent had been dreaming of a portrait of an artist friend “who dreams great dreams, who works as the nightingale sings.” In early September, a few days before Boch left, he sat for it.

I paint the infinite

Behind the head, Vincent wrote, “I paint the infinite”: a background of the richest, most intense blue he could mix, so the head would shine “like a star in the deep azure.” Boch gave him two sittings in one day.

The poet

He called it the poet and ordered an oak frame for it, and it appears on the wall in his painting of his bedroom in the Yellow House. Boch left it to the Louvre, and it is now in the Musée d’Orsay in Paris.

Listen to the story

0:00 / 1:27

Read the story

Vincent van Gogh painted his friend against the stars, because he wanted to paint the infinite.

It's August 1888, in Arles. Vincent has a picture in his head that he can't stop thinking about.

I'd like to do the portrait of an artist friend, he writes to his brother Theo, who dreams great dreams, who works as the nightingale sings.

Behind the head, he says, instead of the dull wall of a mean room, I paint the infinite. A background of the richest, most intense blue I can prepare, so the head shines like a star in the deep azure.

In early September he finds his model: Eugène Boch, a young Belgian painter, about to leave the south.

Boch gives him two sittings in one day.

At last I have a first sketch of that painting I've been dreaming about for a long time, Vincent writes. The poet.

His fine head, with its green gaze, against a starry, deep ultramarine sky, a little yellow jacket and a multicoloured tie.

He orders an oak frame for it, and it appears on the wall in his painting of his bedroom.

Boch kept it, and left it to the Louvre. Today it's in the Musée d'Orsay in Paris.

Find the little stars behind his head, and see the infinite Vincent wanted to paint.

Eugène Boch. Vincent van Gogh, 1888.

Self-Portrait, 1887. Art Institute of Chicago.

The artist

Vincent van Gogh

1853–1890 · Post-Impressionism

Dutch painter who came to art late, in his late twenties, and made most of the work we know in the last few years of his life, much of it in Arles in the south of France. He used colour to carry feeling, and explained it in hundreds of letters, most of them to his brother Theo.

More by Vincent van Gogh

The original

Artist: Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890)
Date: September 1888
Medium: Oil on canvas
Where it hangs today: Musée d’Orsay, Paris (the museum’s page, opens in a new tab)
Originals: One painting
Original size: 60 × 45 cm

Graded against the original: true to the artist’s colours, brought back to life for your wall.

How each piece is brought to life

Faithful to the original, and made to be felt on your wall.

Graded against the original

We compare every work with the original as we grade it, keeping the artist’s colours true while bringing back their depth and glow. Every mark stays the artist’s own.
Printed for you

Printed to order on cotton canvas or fine art paper, then framed if you chose a frame, in 1 to 3 business days.
On your wall

It arrives 5 to 12 business days later, tracked and free anywhere in the US. Framed pieces come ready to hang.

Questions

Is this the original painting?

No. The original hangs in a museum. What you receive is a fine art reproduction, remastered from the original and printed for you, with every mark where the artist left it.

Will the colour look flat?

This is where most reproductions disappoint, and it is where we spend the most time. Each work is graded side by side with the original: faithful to the artist’s colours, with the depth and warmth brought back, so it moves you on the wall the way it was meant to. Canvas reads a touch softer than a backlit screen, and every screen shows colour a little differently.

Will the edges be cropped?

Each size is a standard frame size, so we fit the painting by trimming a little from its edges. We never stretch or squash it, and we check every size by eye so no face, figure or signature is cut. On canvas the edges are mirror-wrapped, which keeps the whole picture on the front.

Which size is right for my wall?

Aim for about two-thirds the width of the furniture beneath it. Over a sofa or a sideboard, one of the two largest sizes will hold the wall. The size guide lists every size in inches and centimetres, with the kind of wall each one suits.

How long does it take?

Your piece is printed in 1–3 business days, then spends 5–12 business days in transit, tracked all the way. Delivery is free anywhere in the US. We are unable to deliver to PO boxes.

What if it arrives damaged?

Send us a photograph and we will remake it and send it again. There is nothing to return.

Can I return it?

Yes, within 30 days of delivery. Our returns policy has the details.