Description

During his time in the Asylum of Saint-Paul in Saint-Rémy, a small town near Arles, Vincent van Gogh made a number of copies of the work of artists he admired, which freed him from having to produce original compositions and allowed him to concentrate instead on interpretation. For this image, Van Gogh copied a wood engraving from Honoré Daumier’s Drinkers, a parody on the four ages of man. The exaggerated figure types capture Daumier’s characteristic humor and convey his sad message about the horrors of alcoholism. The greenish palette may well be an allusion to the notorious alcoholic drink absinthe.

This is one of thirty-five works that comprise the Winterbotham Collection. Click here to learn more about the collection.

Provenance

The artist; sent to his brother, Theo van Gogh (died 1891); possibly by descent to his wife, Johanna van Gogh-Bonger (died 1925). Given to Émile Bernard (died 1941), Paris, 1890 or 1891; his mother, Héloïse Bernard (died 1909), before 1899; given to Galerie Vollard, Paris, Jan. 7, 1899 [Vollard Stock Book, Wildenstein Gallery Archives, New York]; sold to Jack Aghion, Paris (died before 1914), by 1905 for 500 FRF [Paris 1905]. Carl Reininghaus, Vienna (died 1929), by 1909 to at least 1925 [Vienna 1909; Berlin 1914; Vienna 1925]; by descent, until 1931. Probably given on consignment to Galerie Thannhauser, Munich and Berlin, Apr. 1931 [according to annotated working list prepared for the Arts Club exhibition, Chicago 1936; copy in curatorial object file]; sold to Joseph Winterbotham, Jr. (died 1954), Burlington, Vt., before Nov. 13, 1933 [purchase from Thannhauser is implied by context on working list cited above]; given by Joseph Winterbotham to the Art Institute, 1953.