Vincent van Gogh - Skull with Burning Cigarette

Head of a Skeleton with a Burning Cigarette / Skull with Burning Cigarette (Crâne de squelette fumant une cigarette), painted in 1886 in oil on canvas by Dutch Post-Impressionist painter Vincent van Gogh in Antwerp. Van Gogh painted the small canvas while studying at the art academy in Antwerp, where drawing skeletons was a standard exercise. The cigarette was his own humorous addition: painting skeletons was not part of the academy curriculum, and the image functions as a playful variation on anatomical study. Dark browns and blacks set off the pale skull and glowing cigarette, giving the joke an unexpectedly forceful visual presence.