Head of a Man with a Pipe

Van Gogh painted this peasant's head early in 1885, during the same Nuenen winter when he was going house to house, often with his friend Anthon van Rappard, to find people who would sit for him. He was still teaching himself, and the effort shows. He was more sure of his colour than of his drawing. Look at the eyes, which sit at slightly different heights, and the pipe, which juts from the mouth at an angle that would tip its tobacco out. The background is a muted green-grey, made lighter on the right so the head stands away from it, and against that dull ground he set the warm red of the man's cheek and the red cloth knotted at his throat.