Vincent Van Gogh on his Deathbed

Vincent Van Gogh on his Deathbed

Dr. Paul Ferdinand Gachet

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Dr. Paul Gachet, the amateur artist and doctor in whose care Vincent Van Gogh spent his final months in Auvers-sur-Oise, made several drawings of the deceased painter following his suicide, on which he based this print. It is a somber counterpart to the lively etched portrait of Gachet made by Van Gogh only weeks earlier (2021.243). Gachet signed his works “Van Ryssel”—deriving the name from his birthplace near Lille (“Ryssel” in Flemish)—and encouraged a number of artists, including Van Gogh, to try etching by sharing access to the press in his home. This impression is dedicated to Louis Lumet, an anarchist writer, who co-founded an organization called L’Art pour tous (Art for All) in 1901, whom Gachet likely met through Socialist circles.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Vincent Van Gogh on his DeathbedVincent Van Gogh on his DeathbedVincent Van Gogh on his DeathbedVincent Van Gogh on his DeathbedVincent Van Gogh on his Deathbed

The Department’s vast collection of works on paper comprises approximately 21,000 drawings, 1.2 million prints, and 12,000 illustrated books created in Europe and the Americas from about 1400 to the present day. Since its foundation in 1916, the Department has been committed to collecting a wide range of works on paper, which includes both pieces that are incredibly rare and lauded for their aesthetic appeal, as well as material that is more popular, functional, and ephemeral. The broad scope of the department’s collecting encourages questions of connoisseurship as well as those pertaining to function and context, and demonstrates the vital role that prints, drawings, and illustrated books have played throughout history.