The internet thinks Ed Sheeran's portrait looks like Van Gogh and we totally get it
You know you're kind of a big deal when the National Portrait Gallery displays a portrait of you.
Ed Sheeran must be feeling like one hell of a big deal right now, because the gallery has just unveiled a fancy portrait of him, painted by Belfast-based artist Colin Davidson.
But, people on Twitter seem to think that Ed's portrait bears a strong resemblance to a Vincent van Gogh self-portrait.
According to a statement from the gallery, the 4-foot-square oil painting is the result of an encounter between the artist and Ed Sheeran's dad, John, who's an art historian and curator.
"He [Davidson] has shown the private me, which few people ever see. I like the way he’s contrasted the reflective moment with such energetic and expressive brushwork. You wouldn’t think they’d go together, but they do," Sheeran said in a statement.
"He’s captured me thinking and feeling, which is extraordinary when you think he’s working with just some oils on a piece of linen," Sheeran continued.
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As Sheeran excitedly shared the news on Twitter, fans were keen to point out the similarity between the singer and the Dutch Post-Impressionist painter.
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Many fans said they thought Sheeran looked like Van Gogh. (Below, for reference.)
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Some thought the artist had just copied a Van Gogh self-portrait.
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Well, this is awkward.
Topics X/Twitter
Rachel Thompson is the Features Editor at Mashable. Rachel's second non-fiction book The Love Fix: Reclaiming Intimacy in a Disconnected World is out now, published by Penguin Random House in Jan. 2025. The Love Fix explores why dating feels so hard right now, why we experience difficult emotions in the realm of love, and how we can change our dating culture for the better.
A leading sex and dating writer in the UK, Rachel has written for GQ, The Guardian, The Sunday Times Style, The Telegraph, Cosmopolitan, Glamour, Stylist, ELLE, The i Paper, Refinery29, and many more.
Rachel's first book Rough: How Violence Has Found Its Way Into the Bedroom And What We Can Do About It, a non-fiction investigation into sexual violence was published by Penguin Random House in 2021.
