Vincent van Gogh
A Pair of Boots
1886
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Vincent van Gogh
A Pair of Boots
1886
Physical Qualities
Oil on canvas, Unframed: 12 7/8 × 16 1/4 × 1 1/8 in. (32.7 × 41.3 × 2.9 cm.)
Framed: 18 5/8 × 21 15/16 × 2 7/8 in. (47.3 × 55.7 × 7.3 cm.)
Credit Line
The Cone Collection, formed by Dr. Claribel Cone and Miss Etta Cone of Baltimore, Maryland
Object Number
1950.302
Early in 1886, van Gogh arrived in Paris and encountered the work of the Impressionists and Post-Impressionists. Shortly thereafter, he abandoned the dark palette that had marked his earlier works. The paintings he produced during his two-year stay in the city ranged in subject matter from landscapes to portraits, figure studies, and still lifes. Within the latter genre were floral pieces, arrangements of books and various fruits, and a series of remarkably expressive representations of workman’s boots. In this poignant image, a pair of worn boots has been carefully arranged on blue fabric. Although still somewhat dark in tonality, the painting demonstrates van Gogh’s transition to lighter colors, which reached fruition following his move to Arles, France, in February 1888.
The Baltimore Museum of Art by bequest, 1949; Etta Cone, Baltimore, by bequest, 1929; Claribel Cone, Baltimore, by purchase, September 3, 1927; Paul Vallotton Art Gallery, Lausanne; Marquis de Biron, Geneva; Galerie Paul Vallotton, Lausanne; Alfred Edwards, Paris; second Blot sale, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, 1906; Eugène Blot, Paris; Paul Cassirer, Berlin (possibly on consignment from Blot); Jos. Hessel, Paris (possibly on consignment from Blot); Eugène Blot's sale, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, 1900 (unsold); Eugène Blot, Paris, by 1900; Ambroise Vollard, Paris; Mrs. Julien Tanguy benefit sale, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, 1894; Julien Tanguy's widow; Julien Tanguy, Paris
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Van Gogh. Up Close
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Van Gogh's Bedrooms
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Van Gogh: Still Lifes
Everyday People: Movies, Memories and Masterpieces
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Cone Wing Rotations 2021
Cone Wing Rotations 2022
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Collection Eugène Blot, Catalogue des Tableaux Aquarelles, Pastels et Dessins, Hotel Drouot, Paris, May 10, 1906, lot number 83, p. 37 (published as "Les Souliers").
Gustave Coquiot, "Vincent van Gogh: Avec 24 Reproductions hors-texte des oeuvres de Vincent van Gogh," Paris: Librairie Ollendorff, 1923, p. 309 (published as "Souliers").
"Vincent van Gogh," Basel, Switzerland: Kunsthalle Basel, 1924, p. 7, no. 16 (published as "Schuhe").
J.B. de la Faille, "L'Oeuvre de Vincent Van Gogh, Catalogue Raisonné," Paris and Brussels: Les Éditions G. Van Oest, 1928, pp. 94, 239, no. 333, ill. (Published as "Les souliers")
"Cone Collection of Modern Paintings and Sculpture," Baltimore: The Baltimore Museum of Art, 1930, p. 6, no. 58. (Published as "Shoes")
Etta Cone, "The Cone Collection of Baltimore-Maryland," Baltimore: Etta Cone, 1934, p. 23, pl. 25, ill. (Published as "Les Souliers")
"A Century of Baltimore Collecting 1840-1940," Baltimore: The Baltimore Museum of Art, 1941, pp. 86, 116. (Published as "The Shoes")
Adelyn D. Breeskin, "Still Life and Flower Paintings," Baltimore: The Baltimore Museum of Art, 1945, p. 14, no. 31. (Published as "Shoes")
Richard Guggenheimer, "Sight and Insight: A Prediction of New Perceptions in Art," New York: Harper & Brothers Publishers, 1945, n.p., ill. (Published as "Shoes")
George Boas, Adelyn D. Breeskin and J.G. D'Arcy Paul, "Selections from the Cone Collection," "News of The Baltimore Museum of Art," October 1949, vol. 13, no. 1, pp. 12, 23, ill. p. 23. (Published as "The Shoes")
"Dr. Claribel and Miss Etta, Collectors," "Art News," vol. XLVIII, no. 9, January 1950, p. 40.
Gertrude Rosenthal, "Cone Memorial Exhibition," "News of The Baltimore Museum of Art," January-February, 1950, vol. XIII, nos. 4, 5, p. 13. (Published as "The Shoes")
Gertrude Rosenthal, "From Ingres to Gauguin: French Nineteenth Century Paintings Owned in Maryland," Baltimore: The Baltimore Museum of Art, 1951, pp. 12, 13, 43, no. 159, ill. (Published as "The Shoes")
"Object of the Week," "The Baltimore Sun," November 13, 1955, p. SM 31, ill. (Published as "The Shoes")
George Boas, Adelyn Breeskin, and Gertrude Rosenthal, "Cone Collection: A Handbook with a Catalogue of Paintings and Sculpture," Baltimore: The Baltimore Museum of Art, 1955, pp. 20, 25. 41, no. 121, ill. (Published as "The Shoes")
Gertrude Rosenthal, "A Picture Book: 200 Objects in The Baltimore Museum of Art," Baltimore: The Baltimore Museum of Art, 1955, p. 54, ill. (Published as "The Shoes")
"Still Life Painting since 1470," Milwaukee: Milwaukee Art Institute, 1956, cat. no. 54, ill. (Published as "The Shoes")
Stuart Preston, "Is Art Criticism Necessary?," "News of the Baltimore Museum of Art," June 1956, vol. XIX, no. 5, p. 2, ill. (Published as "The Shoes")
"The Cone Wing," "News of The Baltimore Museum of Art," February 1957, p. 5, ill. (Published as "The Shoes")
Leslie Judd Portner, "Baltimore Museum Opens New Cone Wing," "The Christian Science Monitor," March 23, 1957, p. 10. (Published as "Shoes")
Eloise Spaeth, "American Art Museums and Galleries: An Introduction to Looking," New York: Harper & Bros, 1960, p. 51. (Published as "The Shoes")
Barbara Pollack, "The Collectors: Dr. Claribel and Miss Etta Cone," Indianapolis: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, Inc., 1962, pp. 177, 191, 213, ill. p. 170. (Published as "Shoes")
"Muse or Ego: Salon and Independent Artists of the 1880's, 75th Anniversary Exhibition," Claremont, CA: Pomona College Gallery, 1963, no. 34, pp. 9, 33, 35, no. 34, ill. (Published as "The Shoes")
K. R. Greenfield, "The Museum: Its First Half Century," Annual I, The Baltimore Museum of Art, 1966, p. 39, ill. (Published as "The Shoes")
George Boas, Adelyn Breeskin, and Gertrude Rosenthal, "Paintings, Sculpture and Drawings in the Cone Collection," Baltimore: The Baltimore Museum of Art, 1967, pp. 18, 27, 66, no. 26, ill. (Published as "The Shoes")
Marc Edo Tralbaut, "Vincent van Gogh," New York: The Viking Press, 1969, pp. 199, 346, ill. p. 199. (Published as "Boots")
Fritz Erpel, "Die Selbstbildnisse, Vincent van Goghs," Berlin: Henschelverlag, Kunst und Gesellschaft, 1970, pp. 94, 157, pl. 17, ill. (Published as "Schuhe")
J. B. de la Faille, "The Works of Vincent van Gogh: His Paintings and Drawings," Amsterdam: Meulenhoff International, 1970, pp. 158-159, 688, no. F333, ill. (Published as "A Pair of Shoes")
James L. Foy, "Psychotic Painting and Psychotic Painters," in Erwin W. Straus and Richard M. Griffith, eds., "Aisthesis and Aesthetics: The Fourth Lexington Conference on Pure and Applied Phenomenology," Pittsburgh: Duquesne University Press, 1970, p. 294, ill. (Published as "Shoes")
Paolo Lecaldano, "L'opera Pittorica Completa di Van Gogh e I Suoi Nessi Grafici," Milan: Rizzoli, 1971, pp. 114, 115, 239, 241, tav. XXXIX, no. 363, ill. (Published as "Nature Morta con Paio di Scarpe")
"Reviews and Previews - Cone Collection," "Art News," January 1974, vol. 73, no. 1, p. 95. (Published as "Shoes")
"Cone Collection from The Baltimore Museum of Art: A Benefit Exhibition at Wildenstein," Baltimore: The Baltimore Museum of Art, 1974, no. 9. (Published as "The Shoes")
"Appeal of a Master," "N.Z. Herald," "August 19, 1975, Section 1, p. 16, ill.
T. L. Rodney Wilson and Eric Young, "Van Gogh in Auckland," Auckland, New Zealand: Auckland City Art Gallery, 1975, pp. 5, 14, 15, no. 4, ill. (Published as "A Pair of Shoes")
John A. Walker, "Van Gogh Studies: Five Critical Essays," London: JAW publications, 1981, p. 62, no. 79. (Published as "A pair of shoes, one upsidedown")
Israel Rosen, "The Cone Sisters: Myths, Realities and Some Conjectures," "Helicon Nine: the Journal of Women's Arts and Letters," Winter 1983, no. 9, p. 84. (Published as "Shoes")
Jean-Francois Barrielle and René Huyghe, "La Vie et l'Oeuvre de Vincent van Gogh," Paris: ACR Edition-Vilo, 1984, pp. 86, 254, 255, ill. p. 86. (Published as "Les Souliers")
Ronald Pickvance, "Van Gogh in Arles," New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1984, pp. 35-36, 269, no. 2, ill.
Brenda Richardson, "Dr. Claribel & Miss Etta: The Cone Collection of The Baltimore Museum of Art," Baltimore: The Baltimore Museum of Art, 1985, pp. 119, 138, 176-177, 202, ill. p. 177.
Bernard Zurcher, "Vincent van Gogh: Art, Life and Letters," New York: Rizzoli, 1985, pp. 118, 122, 320, no. 80, ill. (Published as "Shoes")
Susan Alyson Stein, ed., "Van Gogh: A Retrospective," New York: Park Lane, 1986, pp. 72, 100, 306, pl. 28, ill. (Published as "A Pair of Shoes")
Peter C. Sutton, "A Guide to Dutch Art in America," Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1986, p. 6, no. 8, ill. (published as "Shoes").
Robert M. Genta, "Out of Step: The Threadworm Led a Cushy Life, Then Someone Invented Shoes," "The Sciences," January/February 1987, vol. 27, issue 1, p. 51, ill.
Françoise Cachin, Bogomila Welsh-Ovcharov, and Monique Nonne, "Van Gogh à Paris," Paris: Musée d'Orsay, 1988, pp. 66-67, 400, no. 14, ill. (Published as "Les Souliers")
Guy Ducrey and Marina Ducrey, "La Galerie Paul Vallotton Dupuis 1913," Lausanne: Galerie Paul Vallotton, 1988, p. 67, p. 76, no. 30. (Published as "Les Souliers")
Ingo F. Walther, Rainer Metzger, "Vincent van Gogh Sämtliche Gemälde," Cologne: Benedikt Taschen Verlag GmbH & Co., KG, 1989, pp. 210, 735, p. 210, ill. (Published as "Ein Paar Schuhe")
Keith Wheldon, "Van Gogh," London: Brompton Books, 1989, pp. 5, 63, ill. p. 63. (Published as "Boots")
Hans Bronkhorst, "Vincent van Gogh," New York: Portland House, 1990, p. 54, ill.
William Feaver, "Van Gogh," London: Studio Editions Ltd., 1990, pp. 56-57, 140, p. 57, ill.
Evert van Uitert, Louis van Tilborgh, Sjraar van Heugten, "Vincent van Gogh Paintings," Milan and Rome: Arnoldo Mondadori Arte and de Luca Edizioni d'Arte, 1990, pp. 70-71, no. 19, ill.
Alicia Faxon, "The Shock of Recognition," "Art New England," December 1991/January 1992, p. 13.
Frederic Jameson, "Postmodernism, or, The Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism," Durham: Duke University Press, 1991, p. 10, ill.
Peggy Kamuf, ed., "A Derrida Reader: Between the Blinds," New York: Columbia University Press, 1991, p. 307, ill.
Jan Anderson, ed., "Backgrounds to World Literature: Classics for Christians, vol. 1," Pensacola, FL: A Beka Book, 1992, p. 376, ill.
Journal of the American Medical Association, "Vincent Van Gogh, A Pair of Boots", Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993.
"Modern-Art Exhibit Typifies Symbiotic Relationship," "Beaumont Enterprise," December 17, 1993, p.4.
"Van Gogh to Matisse: Impressionist and Modern Masters from the Cone Collection, The Baltimore Museum of Art," "MFA Today," November/December 1993, p.3, ill.
Susan Chadwick, "An Eye for Art," "The Houston Post," November 21, 1993, p. 16.
Susan Chadwick, "MFA Makes Room for Baltimore Art Treasures," "The Houston Post," June 2, 1993, p. D1.
Patricia C. Johnson, "Two Sisters and Their Art," "The Houston Chronicle," November 21, 1993, pp. 8-9, ill. p. 8.
Carol Vogel, "Tale of Two Cities," "The New York Times," June 4, 1993, n.p.
Colin Wiggins, "Post-Impressionism," Dorling Kindersley in association with the Art Institute of Chicago, 1993, pp. 18, 64, ill. p. 18.
"Hier ist Fortschritt zu Finden," "Art das Kunstmagazin," November 1994, no. 11, p. 19, ill. (Published as "Ein Paar Schuhe")
Jay M. Fisher, "Drawings from the Collection of Claribel and Etta Cone at the Baltimore Museum of Art," "Drawing: The International Review published by The Drawing Society," Vol. XVII, No.1, May - June 1995, p. 5.
"Vincent van Gogh: Color y movimiento," in "Saber ver: arte y recreación para toda la familia; no. 3," August - September 1996, pp. 11, 12, no. 18, ill.
Nobuyuki Senzoku and Akira Tomita, "Matisse and Modern Masters from the Cone Collection of The Baltimore Museum of Art," Tokyo: Brain Trust Inc., 1996, pp. 130-131,161, no. 68, ill.
Beat Wyss, "Der Wille zur Kunst: Zur Ästhetischen Mentalität der Moderne," Cologne: DuMont, 1996, p. 54, ill. (Published as "Bauernschuhe")
Jan Hulsker, "Complete Van Gogh Paintings, Drawings, Sketches, Amsterdam/Philadelphia: J. M. Meulenhoff/John Benjamins, 1996, no. 1236. (Published as "A Pair of Shoes, One Upside Down")
Rosalind Ragans, "SRA Art Connections Level 5," Columbus: SRA McGraw-Hill, 1998, p. 12, ill.
Astrid Erdmann, Winfried Franzen, and Udo Tworuschka, eds., "Leben Ethik Leben 7/8," Leipzig: Ernst Klett Schulbuchverlag, 1999, p. 34, ill. (Published as "Die Schuhe")
John O'Brian, "Ruthless Hedonism: The American Reception of Matisse," Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1999, pp. 81, 283.
Sona K. Johnston and William R. Johnston, "The Triumph of French Painting: Masterpieces from Ingres to Matisse," London: Scala Publishers, 2000, pp. 32, 128-129, 156, no. 45, ill.
Charles Darwent, "Double Vision," "The Independent," June 17, 2001, p. 20. (Published as "Shoes")
Douglas W. Druick, Peter Kort Zegers, Britt Salvesen, and Kristin Hoermann Lister, "Van Gogh en Gauguin: Het Atelier van Het Zuiden," Chicago: The Art Institute of Chicago, 2001, p. 76, fig. 47, ill. (Published as "Een paar schoenen/Les Souliers")
Douglas W. Druick, Peter Kort Zegers, Britt Salvesen, and Kristin Hoermann Lister, "Van Gogh and Gauguin: The Studio of the South," Chicago: The Art Institute of Chicago, 2001, pp. 74-76, 116, 414, no. 47, ill.
Jeffrey Nealon and Susan Searls Giroux, "The Theory Toolbox: Critical Concepts for the Humanities, Arts, & Social Sciences," Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2003, fig. 9.1, ill.
Impressionist and Modern Art Evening Sale, Sotheby's, London, June 21, 2004, lot no. 5, fig. 3, ill. (Published as "Les Souliers")
Impressionist and Modern Art Evening Sale, Sotheby's, New York, November 7, 2006, lot no. 24, p. 77, fig. 3, ill.
Rebecca A. Rabinow, ed., "Cézanne to Picasso: Ambroise Vollard, Patron of the Avant-Garde," New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2006, pp. 221, 222, 373, cat. no. 112, fig. 232, ill.
"On the Road: Connecting with the World," "The Baltimore Museum of Art Annual Report," 2007, pp. 8-9, ill.
Michael Paul Collett, "The Shoe Cobbler Who Mended Souls," Palm Bay, FL: Hughes Henshaw Publications, 2007, cover page, ill.
Ellen B. Hirschland and Nancy Hirschland Ramage, "The Cone Sisters of Baltimore: Collecting at Full Tilt," Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press, 2008, pp. xv, 126-127, 276, fig. 5.20, ill.
Geoffrey Batchen, "What of Shoes? Van Gogh and Art History," Leipzig: E. A. Seemann, 2009, pp. 9, 12, fig. 13, ill.
Susan Alyson Stein and Asher Ethan Miller, eds., "Masterpieces of Impressionism and Post-Impressionism: The Annenberg Collection," New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2009, pp. 194, 196, 331, fig. 144, ill.
Katherine Chandler, "Waar Zijn de Schoenen?" in Rachel Esner and Margriet Schavemaker, eds., "Overal Vincent: De (Inter)Nationale Identiteiten van Van Gogh," Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2010, pp. 72, 74, pl. 2, b&w ill. (published as "Een paar schoenen").
Yrjö Sepänmaa, ed., "Jalo Kivi," Helsinki: Maahenki, 2010, p. 184, ill. (published as "Kenkäpari").
Karen Levitov, "Collecting Matisse and Modern Masters: The Cone Sisters of Baltimore," New York: The Jewish Museum, 2011, pp. 21, 74, fig. 10, ill.
Fillion, Susan. Miss Etta and Dr. Claribel: Bringing Matisse to America. Boston: David R. Godine, 2011, page 51.
Cornelia Homburg, ed., "Van Gogh Up Close," Yale University Press, New Haven and London, 2012, pp. 50, 55, 270, pl. 38, color ill.
Jan Zacharias, "Vincent Van Gogh's A Pair of Shoes: An Attempt at an Interpretation", Journal of the Institute of Art History, 2014, p. 357.
Baltimore Museum of Art. The Baltimore Museum of Art: Celebrating a Museum. Baltimore: The Baltimore Museum of Art, 2014.
Groom, Gloria, "Van Gogh's Bedrooms," Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 2016, ill.
Shaw, Jill (editor). Van Gogh in America. Detroit: The Detroit Institute of Arts, 2022. ill, p. 211, cat. 20, plate 76.
The Detroit Institute of Arts, "Van Gogh in America". The Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit Michigan, 2 October 2022- 22 January 2023.
Christie's, "Nurse Forrester's Secret: Post-War and Contemporary Art Evening Auction: London 14 October 2011," 2011, p.122, ill.
Inscribed: Recto: LR "Vincent 87"
On View at the BMA
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