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| Van Gogh's Sunflowers |
Vincent
Van Gogh was born on March 30, 1853 in Holland. He was the son of a pastor, brought
up in a religious household. Vincent was very emotional and lacked
self-confidence. Between 1860 and 1880, when he finally decided to become an
artist, van Gogh had had two unsuitable and unhappy romances and had worked
unsuccessfully as a clerk in a bookstore, an art salesman, and a preacher in
the Borinage, where he was fired for too much enthusiasm.
He stayed in Belgium to
study art, determined to give happiness by creating beauty. The works of his
early Dutch period are easy-toned, sharply lit, genre paintings of which the
most famous is "The Potato Eaters" (1885). In that year van Gogh went
to Antwerp where he discovered the works of Rubens and purchased many Japanese
prints.
In 1886 he went to Paris to
join his brother Théo, the manager of Goupil's gallery. In Paris, van Gogh studied
with Cormon, met Pissarro, Monet, and Gauguin, and began to lighten his very
dark colors and to paint in the short brushstrokes of the Impressionists. His
nervous temperament made him a difficult friend, and all-night discussions
combined with painting all day lowered his health. He decided to go south to
Arles where he hoped his friends would join him and help found a school of art.
Gauguin did join him but with disastrous results. Near the end of 1888, an incident
led Gauguin to leave Arles. Van Gogh chased after him with an open razor, was stopped by
Gauguin, but ended up cutting a portion of his own ear lobe off. Van Gogh then
began to alternate between fits of madness and having a peace of mind, and was
sent to the mental asylum in Saint-Remy for treatment.
Van
Gogh died in 1890, in the Netherlands.
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