Van Gogh presents himself as a painter in this self-portrait, holding a palette and seven paintbrushes behind his easel. The style and use of colour tell us that he saw himself as a modern artist. He was apparently pleased with the result, as he signed the work in a prominent place. We see the colours red, yellow, blue, orange, purple and green on the palette – precisely the tones he used for the painting. He worked with contrasting colours, laid down side by side to intensify one another: the blue of his smock, for instance, and the orange-red of his beard. Self-Portrait as a Painter was the last work Van Gogh produced in Paris. The city had exhausted him both mentally and physically. He told his sister Wil how he had portrayed himself: ‘wrinkles in forehead and around the mouth, stiffly wooden, a very red beard, quite unkempt and sad’. Shortly afterwards, he set off full of hope in search of new and inspiring surroundings in the South of France. [Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam - Oil on canvas, 65.1 cm x 50 cm]