Vojech Jirat-Wasiuntynski, H. Travers Newton, Eugene Farrell, and Richard Newman

38 pages, 8 1/2 x 11", 34 illustrations, 13 in color.1984

ISBN 0-916724-58-1 (paper), $9

Vincent van Gogh arrived in the small town of Arles, in the south of France, on 20 February 1888. The next fifteen months were the most prolific in his short career. Although he sold no pictures, lived in poverty, and suffered recurrent hallucinations and depression, he still managed to produce some of his best work during this period. He worked at a staggering rate, often exceeding fifteen paintings a month. Van Gogh's friend, Paul Gauguin, agreed to come to Arles in June 1888, but did not arrive until October; meanwhile, they had exchanged self-portraits. The two artists later parted after a famous quarrel. Van Gogh's gift to Gauguin, the celebrated Self-Portrait Dedicated to Paul Gauguin, now hangs in the Fogg Art Museum. In this monograph, an art conservator, an art historian, and two conservation scientists study the Self-Portrait and search for the answers to a series of mysteries surrounding the canvas. Preparing the painting for restoration in 1980, the conservators discovered that the work had been damaged and then restored by an unknown hand. Tracking down the clues uncovered by the conservators, art historian Jirat-Wasiuntynski concluded that these early restorations were by Gauguin himself. This monograph presents a fascinating example of collaboration among experts in tracing this history of an important work.