Paris, Winter 1887-1888. (Gray hat, yellow tie) Van Gogh painted over 30 self portraits between the years 1886 and 1889. His collection of self portraits places him among the most prolific self portraitists of all time. Van Gogh used portrait painting as a method of introspection, a method to make money and a method of developing his skills as an artist. (http://poulwebb.blogspot.nl/2013/05/vincent-van-gogh-self-portraits.html) Painted in the winter of 1887-1888, when he had been living in Paris for nearly 2 years. Since his arrival in the city he had devoted much study to the dotted Pointillist technique. See self portraits in chronological order at http://www.wga.hu/html_m/g/gogh_van/16/ .