Van Gogh's Satirical Side: Skull with Cigarette and Top Hat Drawing

An article on Artspecialday explores the lesser-known satirical works of Vincent Van Gogh, focusing on two pieces that critique bourgeois society. The first, "Skull with a Cigarette" (1885-1886), painted in Antwerp, depicts a skull smoking a cigarette, a jab at the conservative art academy Van Gogh attended. The cigarette symbolizes the upper classes, contrasting with his own pipe. The second, a drawing from Fernand Cormon's Paris atelier, shows a classical female bust topped with an oversized black top hat, representing oppressive bourgeois conformity. Art critic Alessio Costarelli's essay "Tra satira e vanità" notes that satire was a tool of Realist artists like Honoré Daumier, whom Van Gogh admired. Van Gogh, a self-taught painter, struggled with academic traditionalism and sold only one painting during his lifetime. His brother Theo supported him financially and emotionally; after Vincent's suicide in 1890, Theo's wife Johanna Van Gogh-Bonger worked to recover his works. The article highlights Van Gogh's ironic verve, often overshadowed by his tormented persona.