The Blacker Gachet

The Blacker Gachet. By siphoning off all of the ostensible art and colour from Van Gogh's iconic portrait of his fragile physician, Alexander taps not only into the mystery of the painting's whereabouts (unknown since the death in 1996 of its owner, who threatened to cremate it) but into the disturbing emotional hues in which the work was originally steeped. The meta-realism of the Baby sequences and Ozymandias series has been brought to another level. In the dazzling blackness of the Gachets, Alexander has left undeveloped the snapped negative of the artist's soul.

In "Blacker Gachet" (2006), Alexander hauntingly revives Vincent van Gogh's evocative portrayal of his physician, Dr. Gachet. Alexander's rendition stands as a compelling testament to the profound depths of black, its intrinsic power to evoke the essence of tangible absence. With meticulous precision, he channels Van Gogh's every brushstroke, breathing life back into the portrait, manifesting a gaze that seems to beckon from an indeterminate horizon, hinting at the enigmatic vastness that might await us beyond the known.

The Blacker Gachet X

  • Oil on canvas
  • 88 x 76.5 cm
  • 2006
A soulful reinvention of Van Gogh's Dr Gachet painting in black oil paint by Mark Alexander - Version X.

The Blacker Gachet XII

  • Oil on canvas
  • 88 x 76.5 cm
  • 2006
A soulful reinvention of Van Gogh's Dr Gachet painting in black oil paint by Mark Alexander - Version XII.

The Blacker Gachet XIII

  • Oil on canvas
  • 88 x 76.5 cm
  • 2006
A soulful reinvention of Van Gogh's Dr Gachet painting in black oil paint by Mark Alexander - Version XIII.