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As a young ama\u00adteur painter and future art school dropout, I fre\u00adquent\u00adly found myself haunt\u00aded by the faces of two artists, that famous\u00adly odd cou\u00adple from my favorite art his\u00adto\u00adry novelization\u2014and Kirk Dou\u00adglas role and Iggy Pop song\u2014Lust for Life. Vin\u00adcent van Gogh and Paul Gau\u00adguin, above and below respec\u00adtive\u00adly, the tor\u00adment\u00aded Dutch fanat\u00adic and burly French bully\u2014how, I still won\u00adder, could such a pair have ever co-exist\u00aded, how\u00adev\u00ader briefly? How could such beau\u00adti\u00adful\u00adly skewed visions of life have exist\u00aded at all?<\/p>\n
Van Gogh and Gauguin\u2019s sev\u00ader\u00adal self-por\u00adtraits still inspire won\u00adder. My younger self had the lux\u00adu\u00adry of see\u00ading these par\u00adtic\u00adu\u00adlar two up close and in per\u00adson at the Nation\u00adal Gallery of Art<\/a> in Wash\u00ading\u00adton, DC: Van Gogh\u2019s gaunt and pierc\u00ading vis\u00adage, Gauguin\u2019s sneer\u00ading self-par\u00ado\u00addy.<\/p>\n Now, thanks to the won\u00adders of dig\u00adi\u00adtal tech\u00adnol\u00ado\u00adgy, my old\u00ader self, and yours, can view and down\u00adload high-res\u00ado\u00adlu\u00adtion pho\u00adtos<\/a> of both paint\u00adings, and over 60,000 more from the museum\u2019s vast hold\u00adings, through NGA Images<\/a>, \u201ca repos\u00adi\u00adto\u00adry of dig\u00adi\u00adtal images of the col\u00adlec\u00adtions of the Nation\u00adal Gallery of Art.\u201d<\/p>\n There you\u2019ll find works by anoth\u00ader obses\u00adsive Dutch self-por\u00adtraitist, Rem\u00adbrandt van Rijn, such as the lush 1659 paint\u00ading below. You\u2019ll find paint\u00adings from the heroes of the var\u00adi\u00adous Renais\u00adsances and French Impres\u00adsion\u00adism, from move\u00adments mod\u00adern and colo\u00adnial, pas\u00adtoral and urban. The col\u00adlec\u00adtion is dizzy\u00ading, and a lover of art could eas\u00adi\u00adly lose hours sort\u00ading through it, sav\u00ading \u201copen access dig\u00adi\u00adtal images up to 3000 pix\u00adels each [\u2026] avail\u00adable free of charge for down\u00adload and use.\u201d The pur\u00adpose of NGA Images<\/a> is \u201cto facil\u00adi\u00adtate learn\u00ading, enrich\u00adment, enjoy\u00adment, and explo\u00adration,\u201d and there\u2019s no doubt that it sat\u00adis\u00adfies all of those goals and then some.<\/p>\n Browse the var\u00adi\u00adous col\u00adlec\u00adtions<\/a>, includ\u00ading one devot\u00aded to self-por\u00adtraits. Con\u00adduct advanced search\u00ades, if you have more knowl\u00adedge of the Gallery\u2019s many trea\u00adsures. You are the cura\u00adtor! And the lucky ben\u00ade\u00adfi\u00adcia\u00adry of the Nation\u00adal Gallery\u2019s benef\u00adi\u00adcence. While I can tell you from expe\u00adri\u00adence that it\u2019s noth\u00ading like stand\u00ading face to face with these paint\u00adings in their in-real-life dimen\u00adsions, tex\u00adtures, lines, and colors\u2014despite the throngs of dis\u00adin\u00adter\u00adest\u00aded tourists\u2014it\u2019s at least a close sec\u00adond. And for stu\u00addents and edu\u00adca\u00adtors of the visu\u00adal arts, NGA Images offers an oppor\u00adtu\u00adni\u00adty like no oth\u00ader to view and share great works of art often hid\u00adden away from even the museum\u2019s vis\u00adi\u00adtors. Enter the col\u00adlec\u00adtion here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Note: An ear\u00adli\u00ader ver\u00adsion of this post appeared on our site in 2014.<\/p>\n If you would like to sign up for Open Culture\u2019s free email newslet\u00adter,\u00a0please find it here<\/a>. It\u2019s a great way to see our new posts, all bun\u00addled in one email, each day.<\/p>\n If you would like to sup\u00adport the mis\u00adsion of Open Cul\u00adture, con\u00adsid\u00ader mak\u00ading\u00a0a dona\u00adtion to our site<\/a>. It\u2019s hard to rely 100% on ads, and your con\u00adtri\u00adbu\u00adtions<\/a> will help us con\u00adtin\u00adue pro\u00advid\u00ading the best free cul\u00adtur\u00adal and edu\u00adca\u00adtion\u00adal mate\u00adri\u00adals to learn\u00aders every\u00adwhere. You can con\u00adtribute through Pay\u00adPal<\/a>, Patre\u00adon<\/a>, and Ven\u00admo (@openculture). Thanks!<\/p>\n Relat\u00aded Con\u00adtent:<\/p>\n Down\u00adload 1,600+ Pub\u00adli\u00adca\u00adtions from the Met\u00adro\u00adpol\u00adi\u00adtan Muse\u00adum of Art: Books, Guides, Mag\u00ada\u00adzines & More<\/a><\/p>\n The Met\u00adro\u00adpol\u00adi\u00adtan Muse\u00adum of Art Puts 490,000 High-Res Images Online & Makes Them Free to Use<\/a><\/p>\n The Louvre\u2019s Entire Col\u00adlec\u00adtion Goes Online: View and Down\u00adload 480,00 Works of Art<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/guportrait.jpg\")
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