Van Gogh took his second self-portrait as a symbol that he was in his normal sense. "you can see from my face that i am much calmer than before, although i feel that my expression is more absent and dull than before. I have another self-portrait,which was painted during my illness, but i think you will like this one more. I intended to paint it in more brief and plain. Please show it to Pissarro when you see him."  

On the contrary to Van Gogh's opinion, the face on this painting is none of calm, absent and dull. It's a kind of firm, concentration and never retreat. Van Gogh painted a vibratile background with the ice brue color. The background outlined this protagonist who wear a middle class upper and waistcoat, nacarat hair and beard. The author's face appears the familiar making glory. Van Gogh painted this portrait not only to suggest himself recover the confidence, but also meaned that he was eager to leave the hospital and came back to his artist group.

 This Self-Portrait of Van Gogh shows the temperament and ambition of the modern painters. It show a chasing of the Utopia ideal from the standpoint of artists.

There is a contrast between the fluctuant background and the wooden face. While his eyes expression seems like "it can penetrate a person", like what Anthony Adree said.