Paul Gachet (1828–1909) made this drawing of Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890) on his deathbed shortly after the artist drew his final breath at 1.30 in the morning on Tuesday, 29 July 1890 in the presence of his brother Theo (1857–1891). Gachet was a physician who specialized in mental illness. His presence in Auvers-sur-Oise was the reason Van Gogh had moved to the village just north-west of Paris two months earlier, following a year-long stay at a psychiatric institution in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence. Gachet was known for surrounding himself with artists and frequently collected their work. He was also active as an amateur painter, draughtsman and etcher, usually working under the pseudonym Paul van Ryssel – a reference to the Flemish name of his birthplace, Lille.
His drawing of Van Gogh on his deathbed was quickly executed in charcoal on cheap wove paper. It is clearly the work of a skilled, if not a truly great, artist, as is evident in the smudging of the charcoal and the visible corrections, such as the lines just above the face. The small strokes near the nose and right eye might have been intended to indicate a pillow, but they have not been elaborated. The faint lines where his left ear would have been suggest that the ear is missing. The long, somewhat narrow nose and bare chin are not features immediately recognizable from Van Gogh’s self-portraits. Still, the drawing shares similarities with his final self-portrait from late September 1889, where he is also beardless (). This painting confirms that Van Gogh did not always sport a beard during the last year of his life – and in Arles, too, he was sometimes clean-shaven. It is possible however that Theo or Gachet shaved his chin after his death as part of the final act of care.
Inscribed in pencil at the lower right is: ‘à mon ami / Theo Van Gogh / le 29 juillet / dr P Gachet’, and above that, in a somewhat clumsy hand, the initials ‘.P.v.R.’ in ligature, the monogram of Gachet’s pseudonym, Paul van Ryssel.
Paul van Ryssel (pseudonym for Paul Gachet), Portrait of Vincent van Gogh on his Deathbed, 1890, charcoal on paper, 24 × 22.5 cm, Musée d’Orsay, Paris. Photo: © GrandPalaisRmn (Musée d'Orsay) / Franck Raux
Two versions
There are two versions of this drawing. The other example is in the Musée d’Orsay in Paris and bears the same monogram, the date ‘29 juillet 90’ and ‘V. Van Gogh’. In this version, however, the inscription is rendered not in pencil but in charcoal, like the rest of the drawing. Although the dimensions of the sheets differ slightly (the Musée d’Orsay version is a little smaller), the drawings themselves are exactly equal in size and proportions. When overlaid digitally, it becomes clear that one of the drawings was almost certainly traced from the other. Which one came first is difficult to determine. The lines in the Musée d’Orsay version are more pronounced, with virtually no corrections, and the strokes suggesting the outlines of a pillow are missing – details that could indicate that this is the traced version and the Van Gogh Museum’s is the original. While the wove paper used in both versions is the same, the Musée d’Orsay sheet is slightly darker, likely due to the use of a fixative. This not only preserved the darkness of the lines but also captured the faint imprint of a woven chair seat, on which the drawing probably rested while the fixative was applied or dried. The Musée d’Orsay version remained with Gachet and was donated by his son to the Louvre in 1951. The drawing now in the Van Gogh Museum was likely given to Theo van Gogh by Gachet on the day of Vincent’s death, shortly after he completed the second version.
Farewell
Theo took the drawing with him to the Netherlands on Sunday, 3 August 1890 where, grievously saddened by the loss of his brother, he visited his family. The drawing was of immense value to them. Due to the great geographical distance and the short time between Vincent’s death and his burial, no direct family members other than Theo were present at his deathbed, or his funeral on 30 July. His mother, three sisters and brother Cor had not been able to say their farewells. In a letter from Theo to Gachet dated 12 August 1890, he writes about how beneficial the drawing had proven to be: ‘[…] it gave my mother immense pleasure to see the drawing you made of dear Vincent. Several people who saw it found it admirable.’ Van Gogh’s mother had not seen her eldest son since November 1885, when he left for France by way of Antwerp, and his sisters Willemina, Anna and Elisabeth last saw him that same year; Cor was living and working in England by then. With this drawing, however, they had something tangible to say goodbye to. The drawing remained in the family’s collection and in 1982 it was transferred to the Vincent van Gogh Foundation, managed by the Van Gogh Museum.
The death portrait as a memento
Gachet’s choice of subject was not in itself unusual. While the tradition of death portraiture originally applied to kings and saints, it had become increasingly common by the nineteenth century. The portrait served as a memento of the deceased person, but in art it was also perceived as a subject through which feelings and emotional depth could be conveyed. A famous example of this is the Impressionist death portrait that Claude Monet made of his wife Camille (). Prominent journals such as L’Artiste and Gazette des Beaux-Arts regularly published obituaries of recently deceased artists, often featuring a final portrait. In this context a ‘last portrait’ was also a ‘first portrait’ because such an article could provide an overview of the artist’s whole life for the first time. A posthumous portrait could keep the memory of an artist alive, and this is precisely what Gachet intended to achieve with his drawing.
Gachet had also explored this subject previously – one of his earliest known etchings is a posthumous portrait of his relative, André Gachet, from 1873. Furthermore, as a doctor, he had often sketched his patients to document aspects of their medical conditions.
Life after death
For Gachet, the version of the drawing that he kept () also held deep personal significance, and he was eager to share it with others. In the spring of 1891 he displayed his version at the Salon des Indépendants, along with seven paintings by his hand, a sketch of a cat and seven prints. This was particularly noteworthy because until then, Gachet had only once before presented his work in public. Ten of Van Gogh’s works were also on view at the same exhibition in 1891. Van Gogh’s art had been featured at the ‘Indépendants’ in previous years – 1888, 1889 and 1890 – where it had received cautious appreciation from the press. It is no coincidence that Gachet took part in the group exhibition of 1891, the year after Van Gogh’s death. By showcasing the drawing of Vincent van Gogh on his deathbed, Gachet could publicly bear witness to his special bond with the late painter. The connection did not go unnoticed by the press. In a review for Le Magazine français illustré, Eugène Tardieu, a critic and friend of Gachet, referred to Gachet as the doctor and friend of Van Gogh. The drawing was reproduced alongside the article.
Paul van Ryssel (pseudonym for Paul Gachet), Portrait of Vincent van Gogh on his Deathbed, 1890, etching on paper, 12 × 16.9 cm, Van Gogh Museum (Vincent van Gogh Foundation)
Gachet subsequently used the drawing as the basis for an etching , through which he was able to extend the reach of his portrayal of Van Gogh and further share the story of their connection. He printed several copies of the etching to give to friends and acquaintances. He paid particular attention to the etching, which bears a strong affinity with Van Gogh’s own etching experiment, a likeness of Gachet that he made in Auvers . This was Van Gogh’s first and only experiment with the etching technique, and he fully embraced the process, printing multiple versions in various colours. A similar approach was taken by Gachet with his deathbed portrait of Van Gogh, of which there are no fewer than nine very distinct states.
Gachet also created a painting over an etching of the deathbed drawing , which he gave to Theo van Gogh’s widow Jo van Gogh-Bonger (1862–1925) in 1905, a testament to the special bond they had formed around that time. At Gachet’s invitation, Jo had travelled to Auvers in June 1905 to move Vincent’s remains to his final burial place, a larger, more prominently located grave at the Auvers-sur-Oise cemetery. During this time she was working tirelessly to solidify Vincent van Gogh’s reputation, including a major retrospective exhibition at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam that showcased nearly all the works in her collection. Deeply affected by Vincent’s death and one of the first to recognize his exceptional quality, Gachet fully supported Van Gogh-Bonger in her mission and loaned works for the exhibition. He was also consciously positioning himself within that legacy. This drawing should be understood with that intention: with this posthumous portrait, Gachet publicly presented himself as an artist connected to Van Gogh.
Sara Tas
August 2025