A harbinger of Fauvism and Expressionism, Dutch Impressionist painter Vincent Van Gogh was born in Groot-Zundert, a small village in southern Holland, in 1853. His brother, Theo, was born 4 years later; Theo was his confidant and supported him financially throughout his life. In 1872, the two...

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  Biography of Vincent Van Gogh

  A harbinger of Fauvism and Expressionism, Dutch Impressionist painter Vincent Van Gogh was born in Groot-Zundert, a small village in southern Holland, in 1853. His brother, Theo, was born 4 years later; Theo was his confidant and supported him financially throughout his life. In 1872, the two brothers began a lifelong correspondence.

  In 1869, at the age of 16, Vincent Van Gogh was hired by his uncle as a clerk at the branch of the Goupil & Co art gallery in The Hague. Three years later, he moved on to the Brussels branch, the London branch and, from mid-1875, the Paris branch. He developed a passion for painting.The following year, aspiring to evangelize the poorest of the poor, Vincent Van Gogh resigned from Goupil & Co and left for England; he wished to embrace a religious vocation like his father, and read the Bible extensively. He studied theology and attended the Evangelist School in Brussels.

  In the years that followed, the young man truly discovered human misery; he went to Amsterdam to prepare for entrance to the Faculty of Theology, but in the end failed to pass even the entrance examination. In 1879, he was sent on an evangelizing mission in a Belgian mining basin. Vincent Van Gogh shared the miners' extremely harsh living conditions, and will treasure his memories of the experience.In 1880, when his position was not renewed, he was dismissed and fell into a deep depression. The artist reconsidered and decided to devote himself exclusively to art. Vincent Van Gogh returned to work in The Hague; he drew extensively and began to work in watercolors.

  After being hospitalized for an attack of gonorrhea in 1882, Van Gogh moved to Nuenen to live with his parents. He stayed there for two years, during which time he painted almost two hundred pictures. During this period, he devoted himself entirely to his painting, despite a difficult period when his father died. Nevertheless, he produced a quarter of his work here during this period. He never sold any of his paintings, as no one was interested in them, and his brother Theo ensured his survival by sending him money.

  In 1886, Van Gogh arrived in Paris, where he discovered the Pont-Aven school and the works of Emile Bernard, Paul Gauguin and Toulouse-Lautrec. Two years later, in 1888, the painter moved to sunny Arles. There, he discovered the warm colors and sunshine of Provence, and his painting evolved considerably. He invited Paul Gauguin to join him, and the two men worked in a shared studio. On December 23, 1888, after a violent argument, the painter Vincent Van Gogh tried to injure his friend Gauguin before cutting off his ear with a razor blade. He offered the piece of flesh to a prostitute. Gauguin was arrested, then immediately released. Van Gogh soon recovered and painted his famous self-portrait with his bandage around his head. For Gauguin, this new bout of madness marked the end of the two painters' collaboration in their “ atelier du Midi ” in Arles.In 1889, Van Gogh agreed to be committed and entered the Saint-Rémy asylum of his own free will. He wanted to recharge his batteries and regain his strength. He painted fervently for two months.

  Vincent Van Gogh spent the last two months of his life in Auvers-sur-Oise, where he committed suicide in the summer of 1890. He lies beside his brother Theo in the village's small cemetery. Theo had found Vincent's last letter, addressed to him, in his brother's pocket.

  During his lifetime, Vincent Van Gogh sold only one painting!

  
  

  

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