NAVIGATIONALL ARTISTS
Portrait
of Dr. Gachet, 1890 by The Artist Vincent van Gogh.
Paul-Ferdinand Gachet (July 30 1828 - January 9 1909) was a French Doctor who treated Vincent van Gogh’s mental illness during the last weeks of van Gogh’s life. Gachet was an artist and great supporter of the Impressionist movement. Gachet was recommended by Vincent’s brother Theo and Camille Pissarro, a comtemporary impressionist artist, and had treated other artists.
Van Gogh left the clinic in Saint Remy to travel to Auvers to be treated by the doctor. The two became friends though van Gogh described Gachet as “sicker than I am”. In the end, van Gogh did not take his friend's advice, continued into his demise and would soon commit suicide while under the doctor’s care.
Gachet seems sad in the portrait, leaning on his hand with a melancholy expression. It is said that the foxglove plant in Gachet’s hand suggests he was treating Vincent with the plant’s derivative digitalis. This drug is known to cause “yellow vision” linking the plant and drug as having a direct effect on van Gogh’s work, namely the sunflower series.
The portrait fetched over $80 million in 1990, which was the most paid in history for a painting until Picasso’s “Boy with Pipe” shattered the record.