American Art Collaborative

Van Gogh made only one etching during his career. He moved to Auvers-sur-Oise, France, north of Paris, in May 1890 to receive treatment from Dr. Paul Gachet for depression and epilepsy. Gachet, an amateur artist and collector, introduced Van Gogh to etching. Already working on two painted portraits of Gachet, he reportedly etched this likeness in the doctor’s garden following lunch. Shown with heavy, strained eyes, Gachet, an aging widower, appears forlorn and weary as he puffs on his pipe. Van Gogh transferred his characteristically energetic and rhythmic lines from his painting to express Gachet’s anxiety and exhaustion. Van Gogh related to this state of mind, writing to his brother that Gachet suffered from the same “the nervous ailment” as he did.