Self-Portrait With a Bandaged Ear

A second version of the bandaged ear self-portrait was painted at nearly the same moment as the Courtauld Gallery example, also in January 1889, shortly after Van Gogh's breakdown in Arles. The existence of two versions — both made while he was recovering and preparing for his voluntary admission to the Saint-Paul asylum — suggests the act of painting was itself part of his attempt to process what had happened. Slight differences between the two works in expression, background, and palette indicate they were not copies but independent attempts to render the same confrontation with himself.

Compared to the Courtauld version, this rendering tends toward a slightly different color temperature and compositional arrangement. The paint application remains controlled and deliberate, belying the circumstances of its creation.