Ritratto di un uomo

The museum calls this simply a portrait of a man, because no one is quite certain who he is. The likeliest candidate is Joseph Ginoux, who with his wife ran the cafe on the Place Lamartine in Arles where Van Gogh lodged before he moved into his Yellow House nearby. It seems to have been painted late in 1888 by artificial light in the evening, the months when Gauguin was living with him and they had gas laid on so they could keep working after dark. That collaboration would end badly within weeks. The face is built from thick, hurried strokes, the eyes fixed on something past the viewer's shoulder.