Vincents passion for pipe smoking

Introduction

This story highlights a special and underexposed aspect of the painter Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890): his pipe and his love for pipe smoking. The starting point for this article are the pipes that are depicted in the artworks of this famous painter. In addition, attention is paid to the smoker behind this smoking equipment. Thanks to the information in the countless letters that Vincent van Gogh wrote to his family, we know quite a lot about Vincent's passion for pipe smoking. He himself speaks about smoking and what this meant for him and for his mood. As an extra, pipes by fellow painters are highlighted for comparison.

In several of his letters Vincent van Gogh writes about his own pipe, his tobacco and the pleasure he experiences from it. Smoking was extremely important in artist circles in the 1880s. The pipe acted as a status symbol, and artists deliberately chose to smoke. What kind of pipes Vincent van Gogh exactly smoked, he does not mention in his letters. It is thanks to his self-portraits, that we can see what he smoked. No fewer than six portraits show his own tobacco pipes, other self-portraits are without a pipe (Fig. 1). In addition, there are various still lifes with a pipe of his hand. Vincent's paintings are impressionistic in style, so that not every detail needs to be completely clear. The knowledge of the historical pipe in the Netherlands and France makes it possible to identify the pipes and even find equivalents.

With this virtual exhibition, entitled Vincent's passion for pipe smoking the Amsterdam Pipe Museum shows the pipes that Van Gogh so often painted, both in his portraits and in still lifes. From 2 September to 12 December 2015, an exhibition of the real pipes can be seen in the Amsterdam Pipe Museum, Prinsengracht 488.