Portrait of Dr. Gachet is one of the most revered paintings by the Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh. It depicts Dr. Paul Gachet who took care of Van Gogh during the final months of his life.

Van Gogh suffered from seizures, which doctors believed were caused by temporal lobe epilepsy. Dr. Gachet, one of Van Gogh's physicians, was thought to have treated his epilepsy with digitalis, extracted from foxgloves. 

In the Portrait of Dr Gachet, 1890 there are foxgloves on the table in the foreground. This drug can cause people to see in yellow or see yellow spots, which may have been one 

of the reasons why Van Gogh used this colour so prolifically.

INFLUENCES OF SOCIAL, CULTURAL AND OTHER FACTORS

MOVEMENT – POST IMPRESSIONISM

French art movement Emphasis an abstract qualities and symbolic content Use of vivid colours Thick application of paint – Impasto technique Real life subject Matter Using geometric forms, to distorting form for effect, and using unnatural colours  Vincent van Gogh used this style of colour and vibrant swirling brush strokes to convey

his feelings and his state of mind.

Mental and physical health; vision

Van Gogh suffered from epilepsy, anxiety, and depression, Van Gogh drank absinthe, a toxic alcoholic drink popular at the time. Unfortunately this 

toxin, called thujone, aggravated his epilepsy and manic depression, and the attacks became more frequent. High doses of thujone can also cause one to see objects in yellow.

His vision was tested by Dr Gachet and found to be very good and completely normal. He loved yellow perhaps just because it was the colour of the sun, the giver of life, and as a Northern European living in the South of France, he loved the warmth.

GENRE PORTRAITUREARTIST VINCENT VAN GOGHTITLE OF PAINTING PORTRAIT OF DR GACHETDATES 1890

MOVEMENT POST IMPRESSIONISMMEDIA/MATERIALS OIL ON CANVAS

DIMENSIONS 67 cm × 56 cm (23.4 in × 22.0 in)