Vincent sent an allowance to Vincent, encouraged him

Vincent sent an allowance to Vincent, encouraged him

Vincent Van GoghAlthough he is almost unknown during his brief lifetime, Vincent Willem vanGogh, was born Mar. 30, 1853, in Groot-Zundert, the Netherlands and is todayprobably the most known and appreciated representative of art. His work becamean important bridge between the 19th and 20th centuries; and it was particularlyinfluential . Van Gogh clearly showed artistic talent even as a child, butneither he or his family imagined that painting would become his career.

Instead,at the age of 16, he went to work for Goupil and Company, an art gallery withwhich one of his uncles had long been associated with; he was dismissed in 1876.Other false starts included a job in a Dordrecht bookstore during the spring of1877, theological studies at the University of Amsterdam, and from November 1878to July 1879, service as a lay missionary in a coal-mining district in Belgium.In 1880, Vincent chose art as a vocation and became dependent on his brotherfor cash. Indeed, for the next 10 years Theo, who had also gone to work forGoupil, sent an allowance to Vincent, encouraged him to work, and wroteregularly. Vincent’s thinking during his short career (approximately 750paintings, 1,600 drawings, 9 lithographs, and 1 etching) was documented in morethan 700 letters that he wrote to Theo and others.Van Gogh’s early years includes all his work from 1879 through 1885. BetweenAugust 1879 and November 1885 he worked in Etten, The Hague–where he receivedsome instruction from his cousin, Anton Mauve and in Nuenen, among other places.

In Nuenen he painted The Potato Eaters, his first important picture, whichunderscores his lifelong interest in peasant subjects.During the winter of 1885-86 Van Gogh studied at the academy in Antwerp, wherehe was forced to draw from plaster casts and to adopt academic principles thatdid not suit him. He moved to Paris, where he lived with Theo his brother. TheParis period (March 1886-February 1888) is extremely important because itenabled Vincent to see and to hear discussed work of virtually every majorartist there. Although van Gogh admired many.

During these years van Gogh’sstyle shifted from the darker manner characteristic of his Nuenen period to apostimpressionist style heavily influenced by divisionism . Van Gogh left Parisand moved to Arles in February 1888. His mature work and many of his mostfamous paintings date from the ensuing year.

In October 1888, Paul Gauguin cameto live and work with van Gogh. After only 2 months, however, following thefirst of Vincent’s attacks of dementia, he punished himself for trying to stab aclose friend Gauguin in which he amputated his own earlobe, Gauguin left, havingfirst summoned Theo from Paris. Thereafter, Vincent was hospitalized until thespring of 1890; he was voluntarily confined in the Asylum of Saint-Paul inSaint-Remy from May 1889 until May 1890. He continued to paint, however, and inJune 1889 executed the Starry Night and the extraordinary Self-Portrait (Louvre).

In the three months following his release from the hospital in May 1890, atthe village of Auvers-sur-Oise outside of Paris, Vincent produced many greatpieces of work including the Portrait of Dr. Gachet ,Field under Thunderclouds,and the famous Crows in the WheatfieldsAlthough Vincent had finally begun to receive critical praise, he shot himselfwhile he was in a mental hospital on July 27, 1890, and died two days later.His grief-stricken brother died only six months after.