A Vincent Van Gogh lookalike who offered to pose for selfies outside the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) says the response has been overwhelming.

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The NGV is currently showing its Van Gogh and the Seasons exhibition — the largest collection of works by the artist ever shown in Australia.

Artist Matt Butterworth said he had been told many times before that he looked like the famed Dutch painter.

'It was non-stop'

On Saturday he went to the front of the NGV dressed as Van Gogh to offer free selfies to people attending the exhibition.

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"I turned up at 10 o'clock thinking, 'there's no-one here, I'm going to look like an idiot'.

He put out a hand-painted sign which said, "Free: Take a selfie with Van Gogh (lookalike)", and soon, he had his first taker.

"After the first person did it, it was non-stop."

At times there was a line of people waiting to be photographed with Butterworth.

The artist went on to pose for 147 selfies in one-and-a-half hours — that's more than one a minute.

He said participants ranged from "little old ladies saying it was their birthday present" to parents making their teenage children pose for a selfie.

"People were saying, 'Get in this photo, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity'."

He posted many of the selfies to Instagram with the hashtag #notvangogh, but had to stop when his mobile phone ran out of battery.

What is art anyway?

The stunt is the latest leftfield artwork from Butterworth, who was recently shortlisted for the $10,000 Footscray Art Prize.

His shortlisted piece?

A handwritten note on pink paper, pledging to donate the prizemoney to charity.

He said he was fine with people laughing at his art.

"A lot of art is so cerebral and there's all this pathos and you're supposed to respond a certain way," he said.

Butterworth will be back at the NGV to offer more selfies before the Van Gogh exhibition closes on July 9, although probably not this weekend.

"The weather looks pretty terrible," he said.