Vincent Willem van Gogh was born on the 30th of May 1853 in Zundert (Netherlands). His father was a priest and his mother was the daughter of bookbinder from The Hague. They already had a first born son also named Vincent who was stillborn. After the birth of Vincent 3 sisters (Anna, Willemien and Elisabeth) and 2 brothers (Cor and Theo) followed. They liked walking in the environment of Zundert which gave Vincent his passion for nature. Until 1886 he studied at various schools. In 1869 he worked in the Hague at the international art trade Goupil & Cie, In September 1872 he started correspond with his brother Theo by mail. Something he did for the rest of his live and gave us interesting information about how he developed as an artist. Then in 1873 he worked at Goupil & Cie in Brussels and later that year at the branch in London. There he visited many museums and also read about art. But he also developed his depressions. He also worked at the branch in Paris where he also spend some time. In 1876 he had enough of working at the art trade. Then he became a teacher first in Ramsgate and then Isleworth. He also started preaching religion and learning to paint. But he earned not enough to make a living and in 1877 he started working in a book store in Dordrecht. But he soon moved to Amsterdam to do a state examination but he didn't finish that. He started preaching again but also that would end because of his mental state. He then walked 75 kilometres (47 miles) to Brussels and back to the Borinage disctrict in Belgium. His parents demanded him to return to Etten in the Netherlands where his parents were now living. But in 1880 he was committed to a lunatic asylum in Geel. Later that year he moved to Brussels to study with the Dutch artist Willem Roelofs who managed to pursuade Vincent to attend the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts where he studied anatomy and the standard rules of modelling and perspective.
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| The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen (1884) |
He then returned to his parents in Echten in 1881 and finally he started to draw and paint at large. He then moved to The Hague to sell his art where he met his cousin Anton Mauve. Anton was the successful artist Van Gogh longed to be. He helped Vincent to improve his art but in 1882 Anton started ignoring Vincent when he learned that Vincent started an affair with an alcoholic prostitute, Clasina Maria "Sien" Hoornik who already had a 5 year old daughter. Also pressured by his parents he left Sien at the end of 1883. He then moved to the province of Drenthe to paint and back to his parents who were now living in Nuenen. He was very active with drawing and paiting now and also completed "The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen" which was stolen from the Singer Laren in March 2020. There was interest from a dealer in Paris early in 1885. He made "The Potato Eaters" and a series of "peasant character studies" which was the style he did those days. His brother Theo tried to sell his art in Paris but complated the paintings were too dark and not according to the bright style of impressionism. Vincent then moved to Antwerp (Belgium) to paint and lived on Bread, coffee and tobacco. He became inspired by Peter Paul Rubens and bought Japanese ukiyo-e woodcuts in the docklands. He was drinking heavily and went to a hospital to be treated for syphilis. He also studied again but everytime relapsing into alcohol and heavy smoking.
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| Potato Eaters (1885) |
Everything was going a lot better again in Paris where impressionism opened his eyes. He studied paiting at Fernand Cormon's atelier tipped by his brother Theo. But in 1886 conflicts arose between the brothers. By early 1887 they were again at peace and Vincent had moved to Asnières, a northwestern suburb of Paris, where he got to know Signac. There he painted parks, restaurants and the Seine including "Bridges across the Seine at Asnières". In November 1887 Theo and Vincent befriended Paul Gauguin who had just arrived in Paris. After a while Vincent decided to leave the city and move to Arles where his most creative period would start.
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| Self-Portrait with Straw Hat in front of Wheat Field with Cypresses (1887) |
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| Memory Of The Garden At Etten (1888) |
He lived in Arles from 1888 to 1889. He painted the most and best paintings of his career here. For a short while he was vistited by Gaugin who left when Vincen't mental illness got very bad. He started hearing hard voices in his head and the legendary event of cutting of his ear.
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| Terrace of a café at night (1888) |
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| The Harvest (1888) |
Van Gogh entered the Saint-Paul-de-Mausole asylum on 8 May 1889. The clinic and its gardens became the biggest inpiration for his paintings since he was not allowed to leave. Finally he was allowed to take small walks outside of the clinic and created "The Starry Night" for example. Meanwhile his works were exhibited in Brussels and Paris with great success.
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| The Starry Night (1889) |
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| The Asylum Garden at Arles (1889) |
In May 1890 Van Gogh left the clinic to move nearer to his brother and Dr Paul Gachet (who treated Vincent for his illness) in Paris. In Auvers-sur-Oise. In July 1890, Van Gogh completed two paintings of Daubigny's Garden, one of which is likely his final work. On 27 July 1890 (Sunday), aged 37, Van Gogh shot himself in the chest with a revolver. Only 6 months later his brother Theo also died of syphilis.
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| Daubigny's Garden (1890) |
