Chair with his Pipe by van Gogh

It was painted in late November 1888, just a month after Gauguin’s arrival in Arles and just a month before the violent quarrel after which van Gogh cut off his ear.

He painted chair, a lone chair on tile floor, a small pipe and bag of tobacco on the chair’s seat. The chair is van Gogh own chair.

On the seat van is van Gogh smoking pipe – the pipe he is smoking in his shattering self portrait with bandage ear of January 1889.

Some might say that the artist has used the genre of the self portrait to illustrate not his presence, but his disappearance from the scene.

With these placed on the seat of the chair a viewer is given the impression that the occupant had only risen a moment ago.
Chair with his Pipe by van Gogh