Self-Portrait with Felt Hat

Van Gogh painted several self-portraits in felt hat during his early Paris period in 1886, when he was experimenting with both his appearance and his technique. The felt hat is more urban and bohemian than the straw hat of later works — it places him in the city rather than the countryside, in the world of cafes and studios rather than open fields. These early Paris self-portraits chart his systematic dismantling of his Dutch approach: still relatively dark, but beginning to open toward the Impressionist experiments that would transform his work by 1887. The painter depicted in felt hat is a transitional figure, clearly Dutch in palette but already looking elsewhere.

The handling here sits between his dark Dutch manner and the looser Impressionist technique he was absorbing in Paris — the tonal range is broader than his Nuenen work but not yet the vivid complementary contrasts of 1887. Brushwork is visible but controlled.