Van Gogh Paintings

Vincent Van Gogh – the Dutch post-Impressionist Painter

Van Gogh Art & Paintings

Vincent Van Gogh was born to an upper-middle-class Dutch family on March 30, 1853, in Holland. He was a 19th-century Dutch post-impressionist painter known for his influencers on the history of western art. His father was a Dutch reformed church minister. Van Gogh enjoyed drawing and was quite thoughtful and serious about it. His mother was an artist who had a love of nature drawing and watercolors, which Vincent picked up. However, in 1864, he was sent to boarding school, where he felt abandoned. 

Early life

 When Vincent was 15, his family was financially unstable, and to support the family needs, he dropped school and started working. Fortunately, he was hired by an art dealer, which he enjoyed. Since he fluently spoke Dutch, German, French, he traveled frequently, and by the time he reached his 20s, Vincent was earning more than his father. In 1873, Van Gogh got transferred to work at an art gallery in London, where he developed a passion for English culture and literature and frequented the art galleries.

Mental illness

 He fell in love with his landlady's daughter, but it was not meant to be, and following the rejection of his marriage proposal, Van Gogh had a mental breakdown for which he isolated himself more. He took care of the sick and drew pictures of the miners and their families. Because of this, he earned the title "Christ of the Coal Mine". Unfortunately, the church community was not happy with this as the lifestyle was appeared to be not in line with how the church believed the minister should behave. However, in 1880 he moved to Brussels to take art lessons that his brother helped sponsor financially. 

Van Gogh Artwork

Famous artworks of Van Gogh

In 1885, he started to create his first masterpiece known as "Potato Eaters." He went to visit his brother in Paris and was inspired by the impressionists. Over time painting became an obsession and his health deteriorated as he was living on a meager diet of bread, absinthe, and coffee. In addition to this diet, his psychological health began to deteriorate because he would occasionally drink turpentine. He continued to be depressed and turned to paint again to find peace. But he did not; he eventually moved to an asylum in France and created some well-known paintings like a starry night. The other one was "Sunflowers." The oil paintings on canvas, wilting yellow sunflowers in a vase, are now displayed at museums in London, Amsterdam, Tokyo, Munich, and Philadelphia. 

Death

One morning he committed suicide by shooting himself in the chest with a pistol. The injuries were not immediately fatal, and he survived for a couple of days. But he could not survive any longer and died on July 29, 1890. Although he lived a miserable life, Van Gogh inspired many artists.