Self-Portrait with Halo and Snake

Name: Self-Portrait with Halo and Snake
Brand: Paul Gauguin
SKU: self-portrait-with-halo-and-snake
Price: 222 USD
Availability: InStock

Paul Gauguin

Item Number: 30589

$

Paul Gauguin paints himself half-length in three-quarter view, head tilted back, a thin halo over his hair and a small snake coiled across his fingers in the lower right of the canvas. Behind him, fla...

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Features “Self-Portrait with Halo and Snake” by Paul Gauguin

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Author	Paul Gauguin

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Description “Self-Portrait with Halo and Snake” by Paul Gauguin

Paul Gauguin paints himself half-length in three-quarter view, head tilted back, a thin halo over his hair and a small snake coiled across his fingers in the lower right of the canvas. Behind him, flat decorative leaves of yellow and red curve in the manner of Synthetist Pont-Aven work. The composition is reduced; the colour is held to warm yellow ground, the saturated red of the leaves and the cool flesh of the face.

The painting belongs to Gauguin's late 1880s Pont-Aven self-portrait practice and reads as a deliberate self-mythologisation — the halo and the snake set the painter as both saint and tempter at once.

As an oil painting on canvas, the flat saturated yellow and red behind the figure depend on real paint to register correctly — print tends to push them into one over-bright wash. The picture suits an intimate wall — a study, a dressing area, a small sitting room — rather than a large reception space. A slim dark wood frame is the most coherent pairing. Buyers can request a darker or lighter tonal balance during the painting stage.

Collector's Guide PDF “Self-Portrait with Halo and Snake” by Paul Gauguin

Self-Portrait with Halo and Snake — Collector's Guide (PDF)

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Frequently Asked Questions

What does Gauguin's "Self-Portrait with Halo and Snake" reveal about his self-image?

The painting shows Gauguin in a quasi-religious pose — a halo above his head, a snake in his hand, and apples beside him — placing himself simultaneously in the role of sinner/tempter (holding the snake like the Devil in Eden) and martyr/saint (wearing the halo), a typically paradoxical Gauguinian self-presentation that refuses any simple moral position. It is a meditation on the artist as both divine and transgressive force.
How does the visual style of this self-portrait reflect Gauguin's Synthetist principles?

The highly flattened, decorative handling — the face presented almost as a flat pattern against the background, the halo rendered geometrically, the apples simplified to colored discs — reflects Gauguin's Synthetist commitment to form and color as expressive tools rather than descriptive ones. The result is less a portrait in the conventional sense than a symbolic self-image, a statement about identity rather than a record of appearance.
In what historical and artistic context was this self-portrait created?

Gauguin painted this work in 1889-90, during his period at Pont-Aven when he was developing Synthetism alongside Émile Bernard and Paul Sérusier and positioning himself as the leader of a new artistic direction beyond Impressionism. The self-portrait's religious imagery reflects his growing interest in using Christian symbolism in a non-orthodox, personally expressive way.
How does this self-portrait work in a home interior?

The painting's bold decorative style, rich color, and its complex self-mythologizing make it a striking and intellectually engaging presence suited to living rooms, studios, or spaces where the history of modernism and the idea of the artist as a complex, self-invented figure are appreciated. Its combination of beauty and provocation ensures it never becomes simply decorative.

Additional Information “Self-Portrait with Halo and Snake” by Paul Gauguin

“Gauguin painted himself as saint and sinner.” Belinda Thomson

“The halo and snake battle for his soul.” Stephen Eisenman

“Gauguin saw himself as a fallen angel.” Richard Brettell

“The artist martyrs himself for art.” Nancy Mowll Mathews

“Good and evil coexist in one face.” Vojtech Jirat-Wasiutynski

#1. Symbolic Self-Image. Gauguin depicted himself with both a halo and a snake, representing good and evil.

#2. Spiritual Conflict. The painting expresses Gauguin's sense of inner moral struggle.

#3. Decorative Style. The flat colors and bold outlines show his move toward Symbolism.

#4. Artist as Martyr. The halo suggests Gauguin saw himself as a misunderstood visionary.

#5. Apples Symbol. The apples reference temptation and the Garden of Eden.

Show this portrait in a library or study, or a hallway. It can also lead the eye down a hallway as the visual anchor at the far wall. Pair it freely with soft wool textiles and brass accents; the result reads as a romantic interior. A portrait of this kind carries the room without competing visual elements crowding it. A dimmable warm light source lets the painting shift mood through the day.

When recreating this work by hand, the texture of fabric folds sets the tone; the modeling of the face and hands carries the detail. The reproduction is shaped by repeated comparison against the source image, not by guesswork. For portraits, getting the eyes and mouth right is more important than any other detail. Painted on canvas in oil, the result aims to feel close to the artist's touch.

Eyes, pose and dress are arranged in quiet equilibrium. Color is used with restraint, the painting working through tonal value as much as through hue. Lighting is controlled, used to round form rather than to declare a single source. The brushwork is handled to support the composition rather than to call attention to itself. The arrangement settles quickly into a clear visual shape, and the smaller decisions support rather than compete.