Vincent Van Gogh (30 March 1853 

– 29 July
1890)

Vincent Willem van Gogh is a well-

known Dutch post-Impressionist painter.
During his lifetime, Van Gogh remained
poor and unknown.

Early Life

Van Gogh was born on March 30, 1853,

to upper middle-class parents. He spent
his early adulthood working for a firm of
art dealers before traveling to The
Hague, London and Paris.
He was deeply religious as a younger
man and aspired to be a pastor, like his father. He became a teacher in
England and then he worked as a missionary in a mining region in
Belgium where he sketched people from the local community, and in
1885 painted his first major work The Potato Eaters. His palette then
consisted mainly of somber earth tones and showed no sign of the
vivid coloration that distinguished his later paintings.

France

In March 1886, he moved to Paris and discovered the French

Impressionists. He met many artists including Degas, Toulouse-
Lautrec, Pissarro and Gauguin, with whom he became friends. Later,
he moved to the south of France and was influenced by the region's
strong sunlight. His paintings grew brighter in colour, and he developed
the unique and highly recognizable style that became fully realized
during his stay in Arles in 1888.
Van Gogh invited Gauguin to join him in Arles, but their relationship
began to deteriorate. Van Gogh admired Gauguin and desperately
wanted to be treated as his equal, but Gauguin was arrogant and
domineering, something that often frustrated Van Gogh. They
quarrelled about art; Van Gogh increasingly feared that Gauguin was
going to desert him, and the situation, which Van Gogh described as
one of "excessive tension," rapidly headed towards a crisis point.
Deeply remorseful, he then cut off part of his own ear.

Mental Illness

This incident was the first serious sign of the mental health problems
that were to afflict Van Gogh for the remaining days of his life. He
spent time in psychiatric hospitals and swung between periods of
inertia, depression and incredibly concentrated artistic activity. His work
reflected the intense colours and strong light of the countryside around
him. On May 9, 1889, he asked to be admitted to the asylum at Saint-
Rémy-de Provence, a hospital for the mentally ill. In the year Van Gogh
spent at the asylum he worked as much as he had at Arles, producing
150 paintings and hundreds of drawings.

Death

Van Gogh went to Paris on May 17, 1890, to visit his brother, Theo. On
the advice of Pissarro, Theo had Vincent go to Auvers, just outside
Paris. At first, Van Gogh felt relieved at Auvers, but toward the end of
June he experienced fits of temper and often quarrelled with Gachet.
On July 27, 1890, he shot himself in a lonely field and died, two days
later, in the morning of July 29, 1890.

His Brother Theo

The most comprehensive primary source for understanding Van Gogh

is the collection of letters between him and his younger brother, art
dealer Theo van Gogh. They lay the foundation for most of what is
known about his thoughts and beliefs. Theo provided his brother with
financial and emotional support. The brother's lifelong friendship, and
most of what is known of Vincent's thoughts and theories of art, is
recorded in the hundreds of letters exchanged between 1872 and
1890. There are more than 600 from Vincent to Theo, and 40 from
Theo to Vincent.