Pere Tanguy, 1887-8

Père Tanguy Portrait:
This portrait was painted in Paris, autumn of 1887, oil on canvas, and 92
x 75 cms. Vincent Van Gogh.
Exposed at the Rodin Museum in Paris.

Julien Tanguy or père (father) Tanguy as he was called by the young artists, was a very generous man who after being in prison because of his revolutionary political beliefs, decided to create a better world by helping young artists in Paris. He sold art supplies and exhibited their art work in the back room of the shop. Vincent Van Gogh painted three portraits of Tanguy.
In his shop he would sell all kinds of paints, canvas and utensils for the artists. In the back of the shop was a small room used as a gallery where Tanguy would exhibit and sell some of his friends and clients paintings.
Sometimes, in his wish to help the artists, he would exchange art supplies for the paintings. It was through this man that Van Gogh met some important painters like Georges Seurat, Paùl Cezanne and Paul Gaugin. The shopkeeper Tanguy was very fond of Van Gogh’s style, Vincent was always very grateful to Tanguy for all his support and help. He painted Tanguy as
a very relax and good-hearted man. The first of the three portraits Van Gogh would do of Père Tanguy is done in his early style, very serious expression on a dark background. The last two (very similar) are master pieces in the impressionism style - in the background Van Gogh represented the Tanguy's beloved Japanese serigraphy.
In these last two impressionist portraits there is no sense of deepness or perspective, something Van Gogh worked on. Van Gogh portrayed his paternal friend with accurate and varying strokes, that contrasts with the colourful Japanese stamps of the background.