Vincent van Gogh
| Vincent van Gogh | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Self-portrait (1887), Art Institute of Chicago | |
| Birth name | Vincent Willem van Gogh |
| Born | 30 March 1853 |
| Died | 29 July 1890 (aged 37) Auvers-sur-Oise, France |
| Nationality | Dutch |
| Field | Painter |
| Movement | Post-Impressionism |
| Works | The Potato Eaters, Sunflowers, The Starry Night, Irises, Portrait of Dr. Gachet |
| Influenced by | Anton Mauve, Jean-François Millet, Adolphe Joseph Thomas Monticelli, Impressionism |
Vincent Willem van Gogh,[1] (30 March 1853–29 July 1890), was a Dutch Post-Impressionism painter. His work had a great influence on modern art because of its striking colors and emotional power. He suffered from anxiety and fits of mental illness. When he was 37, he shot himself and died.
He was not well known when he was alive, and most people did not appreciate his art. After he died, though, he became very famous. Today, many people think he is one of the greatest painters in the world and an important influence on modern art. Van Gogh did not begin painting until he was almost 30. Most of his famous works were done in his last two years. He made more than 2,000 artworks, with 900 paintings and 1,100 drawings and sketches. Today, many of his pieces—portraits, landscapes and sunflowers—are some of the most famous and costly works of art in the world.
When he was a young man, Van Gogh worked for a company of art dealers. He traveled between The Hague, London and Paris. After that, he taught in England. He then wanted to become a pastor and spread the Gospel, and from 1879 he worked as a missionary in a mining place in Belgium. He began drawing the people there, and in 1885, he painted his first important work, The Potato Eaters. He usually painted in dark colors at this time. In March 1886, he moved to Paris and found out about the French Impressionists. Later, he moved to the south of France, and the colors in his art became brighter. His special style of art was developed and later fully grown during the time he stayed in Arles in 1888.
Biography [change]
Vincent van Gogh was born in Groot-Zundert, Holland. He was a son of a pastor, and was brought up in a religious family. Vincent was very emotional and he did not have enough self-confidence. Between 1860 and 1880, when he finally decided to become an artist, van Gogh had had two sad romances. He also had worked unsuccessfully in a bookstore, as an art salesman, and a preacher. He remained in Belgium, where he had preached, to study art. The works of his early Dutch period are sad, sharp, and one of the most famous pictures from here is "The Potato Eaters", painted in 1885. In that year, van Gogh went to Antwerp where he found the works of Rubens and bought a lot of Japanese prints.[2]
In 1886 he went to Paris to join his brother Théo, who was the manager of Goupil's gallery. In Paris, van Gogh studied with Cormon. He also met Pissarro, Monet, and Gauguin. This helped the colors of his paintings lighten and be painted in short strokes from the paintbrush. His nervous temper made him a difficult companion and night-long discussions combined with painting all day made him very unhealthy. 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 it did not help. Near the end of 1888, Gauguin left Arles. Van Gogh followed him with an open razor, but was stopped by Gauguin. Instead, he cut his own ear lobe off. After that, van Gogh began to get fits of madness and was sent to the asylum in Saint-Remy for medical treatment.[2]
In May of 1890, he regained his health and went to live in Auvers-sur-Oise. Dr. Gachet watched him carefully. However, two months later on 27 July, he tried to commit suicide by shooting himself in the chest. He died two days later, with Theo at his side, who reported his last words as "La tristese durera toujours", which meant, "The sadness will last forever" in French.[3] During his brief career he had only sold one painting. Van Gogh's finest works were all sold in less than three years. Van Gogh's mother threw away a lot of his paintings during his life and even after his death. But she lived long enough to see him become a world famous painter.
References [change]
- ↑ The pronunciation of "Van Gogh" is different in both English and Dutch. In English it is pronounced /ˌvæn ˈɡɒx/ or sometimes how to say: /ˌvæn ˈɡɒf/, especially in the UK. It is also pronounced as how to say: /ˌvæn ˈɡoʊ/ with a silent gh, especially in the US. In Dutch, it is usually [ˈvɪntsɛnt faŋˈxɔx] (
listen), with a voiceless V. However, though Van Gogh's parents were from the Netherlands, he grew up in Brabant. Van Gogh and used Brabant in his writing, so it is probable that he pronounced his own name with a Brabant accent: [vɑɲˈʝɔç], with a voiced V and palatalized G and gh. In France, where much of his work was produced, it is [vɑ̃ ɡɔɡə] - ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Vincent van Gogh Biography - His Life and Times". vangoghgallery.com. http://www.vangoghgallery.com/misc/bio.html. Retrieved 4 May 2010.
- ↑ "Vincent van Gogh Biography". vincentvangoghart.net. http://www.vincentvangoghart.net/. Retrieved 4 May 2010.
Other websites [change]
Dictionary definitions from Wiktionary
Textbooks from Wikibooks
Quotations from Wikiquote
Source texts from Wikisource
Images and media from Commons
News stories from Wikinews
- Vincent van Gogh Gallery. The complete works and letters of Vincent van Gogh.
- Van Gogh Letters – The complete letters of Van Gogh, translated into English and annotated. Published by the Van Gogh Museum.
- Memoir of Vincent van Gogh. By Johanna Gesina van Gogh-Bonger, Vincent's sister in law.
- Van Gogh's Letters, unabridged and annotated.
- Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
- Works by or about Vincent van Gogh in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
- Van Gogh at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., United States.
- 'Drama at Arles new light on Van Gogh's self-mutilation' from Apollo, September 2005 by Martin Bailey.
- Painted with Words: Vincent van Gogh's Letters to Emile Bernard, New York Times, 9 September 2007
- Painted with Words: Vincent van Gogh's Letters to Emile Bernard — Facsimiles at The Morgan Library & Museum
- Art Historians Claim Van Gogh's ear 'Cut Off by Gauguin' by Angelique Chrisafis, The Guardian, 4 May 2009
- Union List of Artist Names, Getty Vocabularies. ULAN Full Record Display for Vincent Van Gogh. Getty Vocabulary Program, Getty Research Institute. Los Angeles, California.
