Portrait of a prostitute

This woman looks respectable to us, with her hair tied back and her shining jewelry. However, to Vincent Van Gogh's contemporaries, her low-cut dress and eye makeup told a different story. Only 'ladies of easy virtue' could be persuaded to pose for a painter they had never met before. Van Gogh had just moved to Antwerp and was looking for models so the could practise portrait painting. Van Gogh made this portrait in a single sitting.