Van Gogh Self Portrait

van Gogh Self-Portrait The face is gaunt, strained as though it had suffered severe privations or mind-altering experiences. It’s all there in the fixed stare of the eyes beneath bone-ledged brows, the skin stretched taut over his facial features – nose, mouth, bearded chin – all in stark relief. But it is the head that defines the artist: an insect’s – wasp or praying mantis – the eyes bulging, lizard-like, alien, hypnotic, the gaze diffused behind the pupils, screwed back, focused on something resolutely inward, imprisoned; the mouth – sealed, sullen, mute – acknowledging a man condemned to die before his accusers, but now turned so far inward, he’s portrayed himself in a likeness only an honest mirror dare reflect.