Inspired by Vincent van Gogh’s Portrait of Père Tanguy, this GlasGogh People painting
reimagines the celebrated Paris portrait through the face of Peter Mullan, one of Glasgow’s most respected actors and filmmakers. Van Gogh’s final portrait of Julien Tanguy is rich in colour, serenity and influence, surrounding its subject with images that reflect the wider artistic world around him. In this GlasGogh version, that same spirit of reflection and presence is carried through a figure whose work has long embodied honesty, strength and emotional depth.
Seated with quiet authority, Mullan becomes a modern counterpart to Père Tanguy: grounded, thoughtful and unmistakably human. The vivid backdrop, echoing the visual richness of Van Gogh’s original, frames him not simply as a sitter but as a cultural figure shaped by story, struggle and imagination. His expression carries both warmth and resilience, qualities that have defined his career from working-class beginnings in Glasgow to international acclaim on screen and behind the camera.
This painting celebrates Peter Mullan as an artist of substance, a performer and creator whose work, like Van Gogh’s portrait, carries compassion, seriousness and a deep understanding of ordinary lives. In Père Mullan, GlasGogh brings together two artistic worlds to honour a figure of