Image 1 of 3: Stretched canvas
Type
Size
Frame finish
Original is 9½" × 12½" — our 12" × 16" is about 27% larger.
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If anything isn’t right, or you just don’t love it, tell us within 90 days and we’ll replace it or refund you.
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Artworks are printed & shipped from the US within 3 business days; they usually arrive in another 5 days.
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If your print arrives damaged or is lost in transit, we'll replace it free or refund you.
Made to last
340gsm cotton rag paper or archival canvas, with archival inks rated to resist fading for over 100 years. We check every crop so the art sits right.
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About this work
A skeleton's head with a lit cigarette between its teeth: the Van Gogh Museum calls the picture a juvenile joke. Van Gogh made it while he was a student at the art academy in Antwerp.
The joke has a target. Drawing skeletons was a standard exercise at the academy, but painting them was not on the curriculum, so he must have painted this between or after his lessons. It was most likely meant as satire of conservative academic practice, by a student who later said the classes were boring and taught him nothing. For all the mockery, the museum points out that it shows a good command of anatomy.
The picture is also seen as a vanitas, or memento mori, made when Van Gogh was in poor health. It is often taken as a warning against smoking, yet he was a keen smoker and kept smoking until his death. Skulls are rare in his work: two later paintings and one drawing are the only other works to use them as a motif.
The canvas itself is small and carries no date. A canvas print matches its surface, and a modest size keeps the skull close to its painted scale.
Vincent van Gogh
Skull of a Skeleton with Burning Cigarette, 1886
Oil on canvas
- Original size
- 24.5 × 32cm
- 9½" × 12½"
Choose how it’s printed
Every piece is made to order and printed within 3 business days. Printed in the USA, with free shipping and our 90-day happiness guarantee.
Stretched canvas
Archival canvas stretched over 1.5″ solid wood stretcher bars. At gallery depth the canvas stands off the wall on its own, so it looks finished with no frame at all.
The image wraps around the edges, so the painting carries on around the sides, and it arrives with hanging wire installed, ready to go straight on the wall.
- Canvas
- Archival canvas
- Depth
- 1.5″ solid wood stretcher bars
- Inks
- Archival inks, rated to resist fading for over 100 years
- Edges
- Image wrapped around the sides
- Arrives
- Boxed, with hanging wire installed
Framed canvas
The same archival canvas, set in a floating frame. The frame sits around the canvas edge with a small gap, so the canvas appears to float inside it.
Choose black, white, gold or silver. There’s no glass, so there’s nothing to catch reflections or crack in transit.
- Frame
- Solid wood floating frame in black, white, gold or silver, 0.55″ face, 1.88″ deep
- Canvas
- Archival canvas on 1.5″ solid wood stretcher bars
- Glazing
- None, so there’s no glass to catch reflections
- Arrives
- Boxed, with hanging wire installed
Fine art print
Printed on 340gsm cold press fine art paper made from 100% cotton rag. Cold press paper is pressed between cold rollers, which leaves a subtle natural texture, like watercolour paper, so the painting reads as paint rather than a glossy photo.
Cotton rag is the traditional base for archival fine art paper. It’s acid-free, so it won’t yellow or turn brittle, and the matte surface means no glare under lamps or daylight.
- Paper
- 340gsm, 100% cotton rag, acid-free
- Surface
- Cold press texture, matte finish
- Printing
- Giclée, with archival pigment inks
- Inks
- Archival inks, rated to resist fading for over 100 years
- Arrives
- Flat in a card mailer when small, rolled in a tube when larger, ready for your own frame
How big is the original Skull of a Skeleton with Burning Cigarette?
The original is 24.5 cm wide and 32 cm high (9½" × 12½"). That is about as big as a coffee-table book, a size to study at arm’s length. Even our smallest print, 12"×16", is larger than the original. Below, it is shown at true scale over an 84" sofa.
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Frequently asked questions
All questions →Will the colours match my screen?
Close, but not identical — screens emit light and prints reflect it, so tones read a little warmer on paper. We work from the museum's own high-resolution image wherever possible. If the colours aren't what you hoped for, our 90-day happiness guarantee covers you.
How big will it actually look?
Every size is listed in inches. Prints come in six standard shapes, so most paintings are cropped slightly to the closest one, and we never stretch a painting or pad it with white bars. Each artwork page shows the print against the original dimensions.
What if it arrives damaged?
If your print arrives damaged or is lost in transit, we'll replace it free or refund you. Email us your order number and a photo within 90 days of delivery.
How soon will it arrive?
Every print is made to order. It's printed within 3 business days and delivered within 5 more, so it arrives within 8 business days. Tracking is included.
What are the prints made of?
Fine art prints use 340gsm cold press fine art paper, 100% cotton rag and acid-free, with archival inks. Cold press paper is pressed between cold rollers, which leaves a subtle natural texture like watercolour paper, and its matte surface has no glare. Canvases use 360gsm archival canvas, stretched over solid wood stretcher bars.
Canvas, framed or fine art print?
Canvas is stretched over solid wood stretcher bars and ready to hang. Framed prints are canvases set in a floating frame, with no glass, and also arrive ready to hang. Fine art prints are printed on cotton rag paper, ship flat or rolled in a tube depending on size, ready for your own frame, and are the lower-cost way to start.