Musée d’Orsay · 1888
Portrait of Eugène Boch
Vincent van Gogh
Van Gogh painted his friend, the Belgian painter Eugène Boch, against a deep blue background full of tiny points of light — he wanted it to feel like "the infinite," turning an ordinary portrait into something closer to a man standing under the night sky.
Why it matters
Van Gogh painted his friend, the Belgian painter Eugène Boch, against a deep blue background full of tiny points of light — he wanted it to feel like "the infinite," turning an ordinary portrait into something closer to a man standing under the night sky.
Look closer
Look at how the blue behind Boch's head seems to shimmer, almost like starlight — Van Gogh called this his attempt to paint "a star in the depths of an azure sky."
Van Gogh nicknamed this painting "The Poet," even though he considered it just a quick study — he liked it enough to give it its own frame anyway.
Value context
ELYIO places this work in an indicative editorial context of €35–60 million.
The museum work is not for sale. This is ELYIO indicative context—not an appraisal, insurance value or offer.