Printed to order

Portrait of the Artist’s Mother by Vincent van Gogh

Vincent van Gogh, October 1888

$100.00

Item no. PDVGW007-00

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His mother, painted in colour from a black-and-white photo: Van Gogh’s Portrait of the Artist’s Mother, on canvas or 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

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

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Subtotal $100.00

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

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Questions about sizes or framing? Ask us

This little portrait sets a pale face against a bright green, and a careless copy turns the green sour. Our Van Gogh Portrait of the Artist’s Mother print was graded beside the original so the green stays fresh and the face keeps its warmth.

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 small upright shape suits a bedroom, a hallway or a family wall. The greens and soft pinks look gentle with cream, sage and walnut, and a dark wood frame suits it.

About the painting

Portrait of the Artist’s Mother by Vincent van Gogh

Arles, October 1888

In October 1888 Vincent van Gogh was in Arles, far from his family in the Netherlands. He had a black-and-white photograph of his mother, Anna, and he could not stand it: “I can’t look at the colourless photograph,” he wrote to his brother Theo.

As I see her in my memory

So he painted her from it in colour, “as I see her in my memory,” ashy, on a green background. “I don’t know if it will be a good resemblance,” he wrote, “but I want an impression of blond colouring, at least.”

Photography and painting

“Ah, what portraits we could make from life with photography and painting!” he added. “I always have hopes that a great revolution still awaits us in portraiture.” The painting belongs to the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, California.

Listen to the story

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Read the story

Vincent van Gogh couldn't bear the photograph of his mother, so he painted her in colour.

It's October 1888. Vincent is in Arles, in the south of France, a long way from his family in the Netherlands.

He has a black-and-white photograph of his mother, Anna, and it makes him impatient.

I'm doing a portrait of our mother for myself, he writes to his brother Theo. I can't look at the colourless photograph, and I'm trying to do one with harmonious colour, as I see her in my memory.

It's a small canvas. She'll be ashy, he says, on a green background.

I don't know if it will be a good resemblance, he writes, but I want an impression of blond colouring, at least.

Then he starts to dream about what painters could do with photographs.

Ah, what portraits we could make from life with photography and painting! I always have hopes that a great revolution still awaits us in portraiture.

He even offers to paint one for Theo, if he'd like it.

Today the portrait belongs to the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, California.

Look at her face against that green, and see the mother he carried in his memory.

Portrait of the Artist's Mother. 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: October 1888
Medium: Oil on canvas
Where it hangs today: Norton Simon Museum, Pasadena (the museum’s page, opens in a new tab)
Originals: One painting
Original size: 40.5 × 32.5 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.