A visitor scrutinizes Self-Portrait (1887). Photo: Guo Yingguang/GT

Almost all Chinese know the story: in 1890, Vincent Van Gogh, the tormented Dutch painter, walked into a field and shot himself with a revolver in the stomach, ending a short and forlorn life believed by himself to be a failure – little knowing one day he would be world famous, his paintings selling for astronomical sums.

Also unknown was that, over 120 years after his death, Van Gogh would enjoy such high popularity and respect so far from his homeland — in China, outside Beijing’s Capital Museum, people are queueing to see just one of his self-portraits.

Compelling masterpiece

Van Gogh and the Amsterdam Impressionists, which opened September 2 and runs until October 9, has triggered a fresh wave of Van Gogh interest in China, a country where people hold an unimaginable enthusiasm toward him.

"The name of Van Gogh is frequently heard in China," Capital Museum’s director Guo Xiaoling pointed out at the exhibition’s launch. "His legendary life, outstanding talents and immortal works have always touched Chinese art-lovers."

Audiences are lingering in front of the self-portrait, observing it carefully – some trying to find any kind of hidden clue to decode the Impressionist master’s mysterious life.

"His green eyes seem to be looking into mine," said Lin, who came all the way from Hebei Province to see the exhibition. "They make me curious about what the master thought about when painted this portrait – and when he killed himself."

Such was his excitement at finally having the chance to see an authentic masterpiece by a man he had respected since childhood, Lin spent his entire day at the museum.

Portrait of poverty

Self-Portrait (1887), an oil on canvas painted in 1887, depicts an angular and solemn Van Gogh, his bright, piercing eyes seemingly speaking for themselves about his passion for art.

But the picture also speaks of the artist’s own deprivations: in perpetual financial straits, Van Gogh couldn’t even afford a model to sit, so used himself as one to practice his painting technique.

"This painting is one of Van Gogh’s representative works and fully deserves its status as a world masterpiece," Guo commented.

In addition to Van Gogh, this exhibition also showcases another 10 Impressionist works by Amsterdam artists such as Isaac Isra?ls, George Breitne, Willem Witsen, Eduard Karsen and Willem de Zwart.

They all lived at the same time as Van Gogh and influenced each other. De Zwart’s Still Life with Apples in A Porcelain Bowl, created between 1880 and 1890, depicts a still life of a Chinese porcelain dish decorated with Wanli (1527 -1620) period motifs.

Chinese porcelain was extremely popular in the Netherlands at the time. "[These artists] enriched Dutch culture towards the end of the 19th century, and provided us an opportunity to know about the local customs and amazing scenery in Holland," Guo said.

Big in China

However, although the Capital and co-organizer the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam have gone to pains to illustrate the value of all the works on display, it seems that it is the Van Gogh portrait most – if not all – the visitors have come to see.

Large crowds can be seen at almost all times, gathering around the portrait, with some staying for as long as a half an hour, sparing little time for other exhibits.

"Yes, we came to see the Van Gogh," Zheng Yue, a middle-school student in Beijing, told the Global Times. "I’m not really interested in the other paintings…we’ve never heard of them."

Born in 1853, Van Gogh still enjoys a surprisingly high reputation among Chinese art lovers, particularly compared with French peer Claude Monet, deemed by many as better than the Dutchman in artistic achievement.

Even for those Chinese not the least interested in art, Van Gogh is probably the only foreign artist they have heard about: both as a painter and a man so tormented, he cut off his own ear.

Several of Van Gogh’s works were exhibited in the Beijing World Art Museum for the China Millennium Monument in 2006 and another large-scale exhibition of Van Gogh is due to be held in 2014, including over 100 of Van Gogh’s works and other materials, according to the Rijksmuseum. In addition, a volume of 900 of the artist’s collected letters is to be translated into Chinese and published in 2013.