Vincent Willem Van Gogh was born on March 30, 1853 in Zundert,
Netherlands. Van Gogh was the son of a Protestant minister, and had
two brothers and three sisters. His uncle was a partner at an art
dealer called Goupil and Company. At age 16, Van Gogh began working
at this firm for 6 years, where he worked first in Hague, then
London, and finally in Paris. In 1876, Van Gogh was dismissed from
the firm, and he returned to England, where he worked at a small
school and took up preaching. He eventually entered a religious
seminary in Brussels, leaving 3 months later for Belgium to be an
evangelist. In the small area of the Borinage, Van Gogh devoted
himself to being selfless and helping others, but his eccentric
mannerisms were unaccepted by the miners of the area, and he was
dismissed in 1879. This was a dark period, for his selflessness only
got him rejected.
This rejection led Van Gogh to decide in 1880 that art was his
calling, and he recognized art as a spiritual profession. He studied
art at a school in Brussels that year, then stayed with his parents
in Etten to continue to work on his art. During this time, Van Gogh
formed a relationship with a pregnant prostitute, which created a
void between his family and himself. He contracted gonorrhea, and
spent three weeks in the hospital. Soon after. Van Gogh began to work
with oil painting. In 1883, he moved to Nuenen, North Brabant, where
his parents were. Here, he focused deeply into his drawing and
painting. A woman by the name of Margot Begemann often accompanied
him on his painting endeavors, and they fell in love, though their
families both forbade the marriage.
Soon, there was interest from Paris in Van Gogh's work, and some was
displayed in an art dealer's window. After being accused of taking
advantage of one of his young peasant sitters, the Catholic village
priest forbade anyone from posing for Van Gogh's work. From this
point, he painted many still-life paintings, most of which were in
dark and earthy tones and not up to par with the bright impressionist
paintings that were popular at the time. In 1885, he moved to
Antwerp, living in a small room above a paint dealer's shop. He lived
on coffee, bread, and tobacco, spending the money his brother Theo
sent him on painting supplies and models. This poor diet gave him
severe dental problems. While in Antwerp, he studied color theory and
focused on incorporating vivid colors into his works. He began to
heavily consume absinthe, and was treated by a doctor, possibly for
syphilis.
In
1886, Van Gogh moved to Paris and lived with his brother Theo. And
painted many portraits of his friends and still life. He became
fascinated with Japanese woodblock prints, collecting hundreds of
them and incorporating the style into the backgrounds of many of his
works, such as his Portrait
of Père Tanguy. After
seeing Monticelli's work, Van Gogh began to adopt brighter pain
colors into his palette and invoke a bolder style to his paintings.
After creating over 200 paintings in two years of living there, he
soon grew bored and tired of Paris, and moved to Arles in 1888.
Van Gogh's work while he was in Arles reflected his enchantment with
the city. Vibrant yellows, mauves, and blues became incorporated in
his paintings. While his portrayal of landscapes are flat and with
little perspective, vibrant colors make up for the lack of realism.
Much of his time in Arles was spent painting still-life works of
things he saw everyday, such as his chair or bedroom, or a view of
cafés in the area. An artist whom Van Gogh admired, Paul Gauguin,
finally agreed to visit Van Gogh in Arles in 1888. They spent some
time and painted together, but Gauguin was arrogant and refused to
treat Van Gogh as an equal. Later that year, he threatened Gauguin,
but fled to a brothel, a place he frequented in loneliness. It was at
this time that the infamous act of removing his ear was committed,
although it was not mailed to an unrequited love as the stories tell,
but rather left with a prostitute in the brothel “for safekeeping.”
Van
Gogh spent much time in and out of hospitals after this incident,
suffering from hallucinations and paranoia of being poisoned. The
locals thought him to be a madman, calling him fou
roux (red-haired
madman.) He admitted himself into an asylum in Saint-Rémy in 1889.
He was given two adjoining rooms, with one meant to be a studio for
him to continue his painting. It was during his stay that his most
famous and easily recognizable works, The
Starry Night,and
many others containing the same type of swirling patterns were
created. Because of his limited subject matter during his stay, he
began to do his renditions of other artists' works. He left the
clinic in Spring of 1890 for one closer to Dr. Paul Gachet. Van Gogh
once described Gachet as “...sicker
than I am, I think, or shall we say just as much.” His final months
were filled with distress and fits of hallucinations. He was unable
to work during these periods, but in the long periods of time
inbetween, his work flourished. In July of 1890, Van Gogh is believed
to have shot himself in the chest, although the exact location of his
death is unclear.
Between
1881 and 1890, Van Gogh painted almost 900 paintings and drew over
1,000 drawings. It is unfortunate that his work was not fully
appreciated until after his death, but he is known by many as the
greatest painter in the world. Van Gogh's work became the inspiration
for many artists, such as Francis Bacon. It is said that Abstract
Expressionism of the 1940s and 1950s is based widely on Van Gogh's
art. There is even an artist named Stefan Duncan, known as the
American Van Gogh, whose art draws heavily on the style of Van Gogh.
Even today in pop culture, Van Gogh and his work are being paid
homage, appearing in movies and television series, and museums where
his art is displayed are top destinations for tourists and art lovers
alike. Musicians like Don McLean even wrote songs to commemorate him,
with lines like “And when no hope was left in sight/ on that
starry, starry night/ you took your life as lovers often do,/ but I
could have told you Vincent/ this world was never meant for one as
beautiful as you.”
Vincent Van Gogh led a tortured life absorbed in his art, turning
his pain and passion into marvelous depictions of the world around
him. Though his work was not appreciated in his time, many art fans
and critics alike would consider him the greatest painter that ever
lived. His style is easily recognizable, and his works inspire
artists of all trades. Through his masterpieces, Vincent Van Gogh is
able to live on and inspire millions upon millions of people long
after his unfortunate suicide.
Works
Cited
- "Vincent
Van Gogh." Encyclopedia
of World Biography.
Detroit: Gale, 1998.Biography
In Context.
Web. 7 Nov. 2013.
- "Vincent
van Gogh." Wikipedia.
N.p.. Web. 7 Nov 2013.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vincent_van_Gogh>.
- "Van
Gogh's Impact On Art." Van
Gogh Gallery.
N.p.. Web. 8 Nov 2013.
<http://www.vangoghgallery.com/misc/impact.html>.
- McLean,
Don. ""Vincent"" Recorded September 23 2006. Web,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dipFMJckZOM.
