Exclusive | NYC artist dresses as Van Gogh self-portrait every year for Village Halloween Parade



He Gogh-es all out.

New York City artist James Haggerty has attended the Village Halloween Parade for the last 15 years dressed as “different incarnations” of a self-portrait of Vincent van Gogh — and revelers find his costume brush-taking.

“During one night, I could take hundreds of photos,” Haggerty, 52, told The Post.

New York City artist James Haggerty dresses as a self-portrait of Vincent van Gogh each Halloween. Getty Images

The Big Apple native — who’s also an art teacher — spends two months each year working on his costume for the parade, which expects 80,000 participants and more than 2 million spectators this Halloween.

“A frame is in the foreground, there’s a background, and I’m sort of in the middle,’ he said. “Everything is connected so that I’m a walking canvas down Sixth Avenue.

“Over the years, the level of authenticity has increased, where I spend a lot of time paying attention to the period clothing, the brushwork. And I really try to get that natural emotion that Van Gogh has in all of his works.”

The van Gogh wannabe takes three to four hours to apply face makeup to look like the manic Dutch painter, who famously cut off part of his ear — and died by suicide at the age of 37.

Haggerty spends two months working on his costume. Getty Images

“I think his energy and emotion and style lends itself very well to Halloween,” Haggerty added.

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The perennial parade-goer is so committed to the costume, he even has a second one in mind in case the first one takes too long.

The Big Apple native, who attended the School of Visual Arts, is a mosaic artist, painter, printmaker and teacher. James Haggerty / Instagram

“There have been numerous years where I was working on one costume, wasn’t able to finish it, but also had a backup plan for one that would take less time,” he explained.

This Halloween, the weather forecast is predicting high winds, but Haggerty isn’t worried.

“I’m inside of a frame, so it keeps me dry.”



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