{"id":978084,"date":"2026-05-22T16:06:45","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T16:06:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/978084\/"},"modified":"2026-05-22T16:06:45","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T16:06:45","slug":"why-did-van-gogh-sign-his-paintings-as-vincent-the-art-newspaper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/978084\/","title":{"rendered":"Why did Van Gogh sign his paintings as \u2018Vincent\u2019? – The Art Newspaper"},"content":{"rendered":"

Although Vincent van Gogh is most unusual in signing his work with just his first name, until now there has been no detailed investigation into why and how he used his signature. Some of the answers are now given in a study by the Amsterdam-based art historian Julia Engelmayer, Simply \u2018Vincent\u2019: An Overview of Van Gogh\u2019s Signed Paintings<\/a>, which has been posted online by the Van Gogh Museum.<\/p>\n

Engelmayer starts with the figures, which may come as a surprise. Van Gogh created around 1,000 paintings, of which 840 survive. Of these, 133 bear a signature (or, in two cases, just an inscribed title). This represents only 16% of his canvases, an unusually low proportion for a 19th-century artist. Van Gogh\u2019s colleague Paul Gauguin was much more prolific in this regard, signing 60% of his paintings\u2014perhaps an indication of his overbearing confidence.<\/p>\n

Van Gogh is also unusual in that he signed with only his first name. He did this for two reasons. Vincent\u2019s relations with most of his family, and particularly his father, were strained, although he remained very close to his brother Theo. In a December 1883 letter to Theo, Vincent wrote that, \u201cin character I\u2019m quite different from the various members of the family, and I\u2019m actually not a \u2018Van Gogh\u2019\u201d.<\/p>\n

The other reason for sticking to his first name is that only the Dutch can easily pronounce his family name (with a guttural \u201cogh\u201d): the English tend to say\u201cGof\u201d, the Americans \u201cGo\u201d and the French \u201cGog\u201d. As Vincent explained in March 1888 in another letter to Theo, he wanted just his Christian name to appear in a Belgian exhibition catalogue. It should be \u201cthe way I sign it on the canvasses, i.e. Vincent and not Vangogh, for the excellent reason that people here wouldn\u2019t be able to pronounce that name\u201d.<\/p>\n

Signatures<\/strong><\/p>\n

Another surprise is the predominant colour that Van Gogh used for his signatures: red. This is found on 75 of the 133 signed works, just over half. It was then uncommon for artists to sign in such an eye-catching colour. Since Van Gogh was a reticent signer, it may seem curious that when he did so, he used an almost overbearing colour.<\/p>\n

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Van Gogh\u2019s Seascape near Les Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer (June 1888), with its prominent red signature in the lower-left corner
Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (Vincent van Gogh Foundation)<\/p>\n

The fact is that Van Gogh loved using colour contrasts and complementary colours to striking effects when painted next to each other. For example, in Seascape near Les Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer<\/a>, he admitted that he was playing with arresting hues: \u201cThere\u2019s a very outrageous red signature, because I wanted a red note in the green.\u201d Red and green are complementary colours.<\/p>\n

Most artists sign their work horizontally, but over half of Van Gogh\u2019s signatures are set at an angle, often at around 45 degrees. A striking example is in Portrait of Dr F\u00e9lix Rey (January 1889), depicting the doctor who treated him after he mutilated his ear. Engelmayer suggests that sometimes angled signatures are \u201cintended to create imbalance and a sense of unrest\u201d in his compositions.<\/p>\n

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Van Gogh\u2019s Portrait of Dr F\u00e9lix Rey (January 1889), with its angled signature in the lower-right corner
Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow<\/p>\n

Another distinctive feature of many of Van Gogh\u2019s signatures is his use of a horseshoe-shaped \u201cV\u201d. These appear in 31 paintings from the artist\u2019s Arles period. Examples include a portrait of his friend Joseph Roulin entitled The Postman<\/a> (January 1889), and his Sunflowers series (1888-1889).<\/p>\n

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Van Gogh\u2019s The Postman (Joseph-\u00c9tienne Roulin) (November-December 1888), with a horseshoe-shaped \u201cV\u201d in his signature in the upper-left corner
Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia<\/p>\n

Most of Van Gogh\u2019s signatures are in the corners, but very occasionally he would sign an element of the actual composition. On his sunflower paintings, he proprietorially inscribed his signature on the pot, emphasising that the sunflower was his own special motif.<\/p>\n

On Van Gogh\u2019s Chair (December 1888), the signature is placed on a curious box at the back of the composition. The meaning of the box remains obscure, since it is unclear whether it contains sprouting onions or flower bulbs.<\/p>\n

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Van Gogh\u2019s Sunflowers (August 1888) and Van Gogh\u2019s Chair (December 1888), with signatures inscribed on objects
Both images courtesy National Gallery, London<\/p>\n

Signing off<\/strong><\/p>\n

There were two main reasons why Van Gogh signed a painting. It was usually when he was particularly pleased with a work (believing that it might possibly sell) or when it was a gift for a friend or family member.<\/p>\n

Although Van Gogh\u2019s earliest oil paintings date from 1882, he only began to add his signature in 1884. He signed 17 works in Nuenen, where he lived with his parents. It was in Paris, where he stayed with Theo from February 1886 to February 1888, that he was most prolific in his signing (57 paintings). Based in the world\u2019s art capital, Van Gogh pursued his hope that he might be able to exhibit and sell his work, but this was ultimately not to be.<\/p>\n

Van Gogh continued to sign works after his move to Arles (50 paintings, but fewer in the last few months there following the ear mutilation<\/a>). After his retreat to the asylum at Saint-R\u00e9my-de-Provence, signing became rare (only seven paintings, presumably a reflection of his acknowledgement that he would not sell his work). At the end of his life, during his short stay in the village of Auvers-sur-Oise, he signed only one of his 73 paintings (and added an inscribed title on another).<\/p>\n

As Vincent wrote to Theo in August 1888 from Arles: \u201cI\u2019d begun to sign my canvases, but I soon stopped; it seemed too silly to me.\u201d This may have been a way of telling Theo that he was becoming increasingly despondent about selling his work.<\/p>\n

In fact, the only identified painting which Van Gogh ever sold during his lifetime was completed ten weeks later, The Red Vineyard<\/a> (November 1888). It remained unsigned.<\/p>\n

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Van Gogh\u2019s The Red Vineyard (November 1888), which was not signed
Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow<\/p>\n

Today, when a Van Gogh painting comes up for sale at Christie\u2019s or Sotheby\u2019s, the auction houses go out of their way to stress if it is signed. For those with the funds, few things impress guests more than owning a canvas with the simple inscription, \u201cVincent\u201d.<\/p>\n

Other Van Gogh news<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Van Gogh\u2019s Self-Portrait (March-June 1887)
Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (Vincent van Gogh Foundation)<\/p>\n

Two major Van Gogh paintings are included in an exhibition devoted to the Berlin dealer Paul Cassirer, one of the first galleries to sell the artist\u2019s work in the early 20th century. Cassirer and the Breakthrough of Impressionism<\/a>, with a catalogue in English<\/a>, opens today at Berlin\u2019s Alte Nationalgalerie (until 27 September).<\/p>\n

Cassirer, who worked with Van Gogh\u2019s sister-in-law Jo van Gogh-Bonger<\/a>, showed the artist in ten exhibitions between 1904 and 1914, with major monographic shows in 1914 and 1928. The two Van Gogh paintings in the current Berlin exhibition, both on loan from Amsterdam\u2019s Van Gogh Museum, are Boulevard de Clichy<\/a> (March-April 1887) and Self-Portrait<\/a> (March-June 1887).<\/p>\n

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Van Gogh\u2019s lithograph Gardener by an Apple Tree (July 1883)
British Museum, London<\/p>\n

Beyond Impressionism: Printmaking from Manet to Picasso<\/a> opens tomorrow at the Holburne Museum in Bath (until 13 September). The exhibition includes two seldom shown Van Gogh prints on loan from the British Museum: the rare lithograph Gardener by an Apple Tree<\/a> (July 1883), of which only five impressions survive, and the etching Portrait of Dr Paul Gachet (The Man with the Pipe)<\/a> (June 1890).<\/p>\n

Martin Bailey<\/strong> is a leading Van Gogh specialist and special correspondent for The Art Newspaper. He has curated exhibitions at the Barbican Art Gallery, Compton Verney\/National Gallery of Scotland and Tate Britain.<\/p>\n

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Martin Bailey\u2019s recent Van Gogh books<\/p>\n

Martin has written a number of bestselling books on Van Gogh\u2019s years in France: The Sunflowers Are Mine: The Story of Van Gogh’s Masterpiece (Frances Lincoln 2013, UK<\/a> and US<\/a>), Studio of the South: Van Gogh in Provence (Frances Lincoln 2016, UK<\/a> and US<\/a>), Starry Night: Van Gogh at the Asylum (White Lion Publishing 2018, UK<\/a> and US<\/a>) and Van Gogh\u2019s Finale: Auvers and the Artist\u2019s Rise to Fame (Frances Lincoln 2021, UK<\/a> and US<\/a>). The Sunflowers are Mine (2024, UK<\/a> and US<\/a>) and Van Gogh\u2019s Finale (2024, UK<\/a> and US<\/a>) are also now available in a more compact paperback format.<\/p>\n

His other recent books include Living with Vincent van Gogh: The Homes & Landscapes that shaped the Artist (White Lion Publishing 2019, UK<\/a> and US<\/a>), which provides an overview of the artist\u2019s life. The Illustrated Provence Letters of Van Gogh has been reissued (Batsford 2021, UK<\/a> and US<\/a>). My Friend Van Gogh\/Emile Bernard provides the first English translation of Bernard\u2019s writings on Van Gogh (David Zwirner Books 2023, UK<\/a>and US<\/a>).<\/p>\n

To contact Martin Bailey, please email vangogh@theartnewspaper.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Please note that he does not undertake authentications.<\/p>\n

Explore all of Martin\u2019s adventures with Van Gogh here<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Although Vincent van Gogh is most unusual in signing his work with just his first name, until now…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":978085,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3939],"tags":[18095,272265,4021,4020,4022,77,272264,16,15,18096],"class_list":["post-978084","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-adventures-with-van-gogh","tag-alte-nationalgalerie","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-design","tag-entertainment","tag-holburne-museum","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-vincent-van-gogh"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116619090161150523","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/978084","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=978084"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/978084\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/978085"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=978084"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=978084"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=978084"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}