Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890 )The Man with the Pipe (portrait of Doctor Gachet). 1890. Etching and drypoint. 148 x 180. La Faille 1664; Juliana Montfort 10. A very fine proof printed in black on ivory laid paper with an "Arches" watermark, bearing the red cat stamp of Doctor Gachet (Lugt 2807c). Annotation written in script in pen and ink on the reverse by Dr. Gachet's son, Paul: "L'Homme à la Pipe (Dr. Gachet) / Eau forte unique de Vincent Van Gogh / Auvers. 25 Mai 1890" then signed. Old mounting tab along left edge on verso and corresponding small ripples on recto, with a thin 3mm horizontal crease at right margin edge in center. All margins [245 x 320]. Ex-coll. P. Prouté (Lugt 2103c). The red cat stamp guarantees the provenance of this engraving, in addition to the annotation on the reverse: "Of the two marks [L.2807c and L.2807d], this is the first one that one meets less rarely. In bronze, they were originally intended for prints by Gachet père, then by Gachet fils, notably for the proofs of the Album of twelve etchings by L. van Ryssel (Gachet fils) given to his friends. We also find them, attesting that the pieces come from the Gachet collections, on a few proofs by Cézanne, Pissarro, van Gogh. And again on drawings by the two Gachets, on labels on the backs of paintings, or on pages of books, as a sort of ex-libris." (Fondation Custodia, Coll. Frits Lugt, Les Marques de Collections de Dessins et d'Estampes, no. 2807c.) Shortly after his arrival in Auvers-sur-Oise, on May 20, 1890, Van Gogh placed himself under the protection of Dr. Gachet, who was recommended to him by Pissarro . Gachet collected works of art, mainly from his artist friends, and engraved etchings himself as an amateur, publishing his plates under the pseudonym Van Ryssel. On Sunday, May 25, Van Gogh was invited to join the family's Sunday lunch. In the next few weeks, the artist painted his famous Portrait of Doctor Gachet (of which two versions are known). It was at this time that Gachet showed him the technique of etching and intaglio printing: "According to Gachet's son, after their Sunday lunch on May 25, Dr. Gachet gave Van Gogh a varnished copper plate and offered to help print it on the small hand press he used for making his own etchings. Within thirty minutes, Vincent had drawn a portrait of Dr. Gachet seated in his garden smoking a pipe. They immediately went to Gachet's studio, where the doctor guided his friend, who had never made an etching before, through the process of acid-biting and printing the plate. Experts believe Van Gogh and Gachet printed around fourteen impressions, experimenting at times with various colored inks and different methods of wiping the plate." (William H. Robinson, and Galina K. Olmsted, "Dr. Gachet (Man with a Pipe): Van Gogh's Final Print," in Van Gogh: New Research and Perspectives (Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2014). Theo Van Gogh, the artist's brother, rightly called this essay a true "painter's etching," a "drawing on metal," sincere in its very lack of refinement. Van Gogh seemed captivated by this new exploration of printmaking, for he wrote to his brother that he hoped to make a few more etchings of subjects inspired by the South of France, aided by the fact that Dr. Gachet offered to print them for him on his press. His untimely death two months later, on July 28, 1890, prevented him from doing so and this etching remains the only one he ever produced. There are 61 known proofs of this subject, of which only 14 were printed by the artist - the rest were printed by Gachet: "Of the sixty-one known versions of Van Gogh's etching of the doctor, experts believe only fourteen were personally printed by the artist. Most of the others were apparently printed by Dr. Gachet or his son, who retained the plate after Van Gogh's death. [...] The popular title L'Homme à la Pipe (Man with a Pipe) was apparently invented by Gachet or his son and frequently appears among the handwritten notes on the verso. Many etchings are marked on the face by one of the three collector's stamps used by the Gachet family. The Van Gogh Museum retains nine impressions of this etching, all printed by the artist with Gachet's assistance. Five are printed in black ink, the others with an overall tone of yellow ochre, sanguine, greenish blue, light orange, and yellow brown." (Ibid.)