Rare Van Gogh Litho to be Auctioned in Leiden

Lithographed portrait of the Dutch war veteran Adrianus Jacobus Zuyderland who was Van Gogh's favorite model during his The Hague period will be auctioned at Burgersdijk en Niermans. It is one of only three known impressions: two are now in the collection of the Van Gogh Museum at Amsterdam. 

An impression that was offered for sale at Sotheby's in 2016 turned out to be a reproduction printed on Japanese paper. Van Gogh produced only nine lithographs during the period 1882/1883 and most of the prints had very small runs, in several cases only three or four impressions are known. It was Van Gogh's intention to make a much larger series of 30 prints consisting of similar figures, but he never reached that goal. The 'Pensioner drinking coffee' represents a group of five lithographs depicting 'ordinary people', the reason why he chose to use lithography as a medium, was that it enabled him to produce prints for (and of!) the ordinary man at affordable prices, 10 to 15 cents each. Prints like the 'Pensioner drinking coffee' fit into a stream of social realism that was popular around 1880: "Van Gogh's lithographs were deliberate attempts to emulate French and above all English artists, (…). The series of illustrations of working-class characters that appeared in the English periodical 'The Graphic' under the collective title 'Heads of the people' was a prime source of inspiration for van Gogh." 

Image : GOGH, Vincent van (1853-1890). ("Pensioner drinking coffee"). The Hague, c. 20 November 1882. Transfer lithograph in black ink on wove paper. Signed on the transfer paper at lower left. 433 x 264 mm (image size), 542 x 374 (paper size).