Vi

ncentVanGogh r
oks
(
30Mar
ch1853-29Jul
y1890)
A t
rW
VincentvanGogh,bor nin1853,grewupi nthes out
hernNet herlands,wherehis
fat
herwasami ni
ster.Aftersevenyear satac ommer c
ialartr m,VanGogh’ s
desir
et ohel
phumani tyledhimt obec omeat eacher
,pr eacher,and
missionar
y—yetwi thouts uc
cess.Wor kingasami ssi
onar yamongc oalminersin
Belgium,hehadbegunt odr awi nearnes t
; nall
y,di
smi ssedbyc hur c
haut hori
ti
es
in1880,hefoundhisvocationinart.

VanGogh’ searli
estpaintingswereearth-toneds cenesofnat ureandpeas ants,
buthebec amei ncreasi
nglyin uencedbyJapanes eprintsandt hewor kofthe
impres
sionistsinFr ance.In1886hearrivedinPar i
s,wher ehi srealformati
onas
apaint
erbegan.Undert hein uenceofCami llePissarro,VanGoghbr i
ghtened
hiss
omberpal ett
eandj uxtaposedcomplement ar
yc ol
or sforlumi nouseff
ect.
Youngerar t
istsli
keHenr ideToulous
e-Laut recandPaulGaugui npr omptedhim
tousecolorsymbol ical
lyandforitsemotionalr es
onanc e.

Althoughs timul at
edbyt hec i
ty’
sar ti
s t
icenvironment ,VanGoghf oundl if
ein
Parisphys ical
lyexhaus tingandmovedi near l
y1888t oAr les.Hehoped
Provenc e’
swar mc li
mat ewoul drelaxhi m andt hatthebr ill
iantcolor sands trong
li
ghtoft hes outhwoul dpr ovideinspirationforhisar t.Wor kingf ever i
shly,Van
Goghpus hedhi sstyletogr eaterexpr essionwithintens e,energet i
cbr us hwork
ands at
ur ated,compl ement arycolors.Yethi sdenselypai ntedc anvas esr emained
connectedt onat ure—t heircolorsandr hyt hmicsurfacesc ommuni catet he
spir
itualpowerhebel i
evedi nhabitedands hapednat ur e'sforms .Hi sac ti
vitywas
notundi sci
plined;quitet heoppos i
te,hewor keddili
gent lyt operfec thisc r
aft.

VanGoghhopedt oattractli
ke-mindedpai nterstoAr les,butonlyGaugui njoined
him,s tayingaboutt womont hs.Itwass oonc l
earthatt hei
rper sonali
ti
esand
artisti
ct emper amentswer eincompatible,andVanGoghs uf f
eredabr eakdown
justbef oreChr ist
mas.I nApr i
l1889,foll
owi ngperiodsofi ntensewor k
interrupt edbyr ecurr
ingment aldist
ur bances,VanGoghc ommi tt
edhi msel
ftoa
sanitarium i nSt.
-Rémy .Hepaintedwheneverhec ould,bel i
evingthatinwor klay
hisonlyc hanceforsanity.Af
terayear ,her eturnednor tht obeclosertohis
brotherThéo,whohadbeenhi sconstants upport;i
nJul y1890hedi edofa
self-
ini ct edgunshotwound.