Owner Comments:
2022 Self Portrait (with straw hat – 1887) Tokelau G$1 Vincent Masterpieces (COA Name: Self-Portrait (Straw Hat))
The obverse of the coin features the self-portrait, where Van Gogh portrays himself using thick layers of paint to create a sense of three-dimensionality, focusing on capturing his facial expression and features.
The reverse of the coin shows the Effigy of Queen Elizabeth II, along with the inscriptions: "ELIZABETH II" - the name of the Queen, "TOKELAU 2022" – the country and the year of issue and "ONE DOLLAR" – the face value, "1/500 Oz" and "999/1000 FINE GOLD" – the weight and the fineness of the Gold.
Van Gogh Museum
There are over 35 self-portraits by Vincent but just one portrait photo of him.
Only one portrait photo of Vincent has survived. It shows him at the age of 19 with a slightly gruff expression. Almost everything else we know about his appearance comes from the many self-portraits he painted. No fewer than 35 of them are known. They tell us that he had red hair, green eyes and an angular face. Yet each of those faces is different. Vincent himself wrote:
‘People say – and I’m quite willing to believe it – that it’s difficult to know oneself – but it’s not easy to paint oneself either.’
Vincent didn’t paint self-portraits because he was vain. Vincent produced his self-portraits because he wanted to practice painting people. The majority of them – over 25 – were done while he was in Paris (1886–88). He was short of money in that period and struggled to find models. So, the artist chose the simplest solution and painted himself.
To save money, he sometimes painted self-portraits on the back of other paintings. By doing that, he avoided the costs not only of a model but also of expensive canvas. You can see five such self-portraits in the Van Gogh Museum's online collection.
In July 2022 a hidden self-portrait was discovered in the collection of The National Galleries of Scotland in Edinburgh..
The self-portraits tell us something about his personality. Vincent often presented himself as restrained and serious in his self-portraits, with a look of concentration on his face. All the same, something of Vincent’s personality can be found in each self-portrait. He described the last one he did in Paris as ‘quite unkempt and sad’ [...] something like, say, the face of – death’. That’s how he felt at the time: mentally and physically exhausted.
Three self-portraits hint at Vincent’s illness. On 23 December 1888, Vincent cut off his left ear in a state of total confusion. It would be the first of a series of mental breakdowns. He was reluctant to discuss the incident in his letters, but he did ‘report’ on it in two self-portraits.
Vincent did not portray himself as a sick, broken man for the sake of effect or to arouse pity. He was convinced that painting would help him to heal. ‘I retain all good hope’, he wrote to Theo.
The self-portraits have shaped our image of Vincent. Many artists have drawn inspiration from Vincent’s self-portraits. They have been reproduced an infinite number of times since the early 20th century.
The self-portraits put a face to the man who became the archetype of the artist as tortured genius. The yellow straw hat is now firmly associated with Vincent and his love of the sun and the color yellow.
Tokelau
Tokelau is a remote group of atolls in the South Pacific Ocean, halfway between Hawaii and New Zealand, of which it's a territory. It's usually accessed by boat from Samoa, a trip that can take around 24 hours. Nukunonu atoll contains accommodation and a clear lagoon rich in marine life. Fakaofo has swimming pigs that famously catch fish near its coral reef. ― Google
Capitals: Fakaofo, Atafu, Nukunonu
Official languages: English, Tokelauan, Samoan
Government: Constitutional monarchy
Population: 1,411 (Oct 2011)
Area: 3.861 mi²
Currency: New Zealand Dollar
Assigned to New Zealand: 11 February 1926
Photos taken with Nikon D3300 DSL Camera with attached AF-S Nikkor 18-55mm F3.5-5.6G lens. Adobe Photoshop Elements used to fix any digital artifacts.