Biography Category
Name :
Vincent Van Gogh
Date :
Views :
910
Category :
Birth Date :
21/05/2026
Birth Place :
Groot Zundert, Holland
Death Date :
1890
Not Available
[b]Birth And Family[/b][br /]
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Man is known, not just for the way he lives, but more for what he leaves behind him. This is particularly true for Vincent Van Gogh, the man who lived one of the most tragic personal life and still, he is remembered for the wonderful legacy he has left in form of his paintings.[br /]
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Vincent was the first surviving son of a local Protestant pastor. He was born in a small Dutch village of Groot Zundert, near the Belgian frontier on March 30, 1853, exactly a year after his mother had given birth to a stillborn baby boy, christened by the same name of Vincent William.[br /]
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Theodorous van Gogh, Vincent’s father, had a somewhat stormy relationship with his son regarding his indifference to the church and his passion to become a painter. Anna van Gogh, Vincent’s mother had passed her enthusiasm for art to her son at an early age and was always supportive to his work. The daughter of a bookbinder, she was also related to painters and art dealers. She too painted watercolors before marriage.[br /]
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Vincent did not have a particularly close relationship with his younger siblings except his brother Theo, who was there for him during his difficult years. Of Vincent’s three sisters, he was closest by far to Wilhelmina. Unfortunately, Wil also shared the same mental problems as her brother. A few years after Vincent and Theo’s death, she too was institutionalized. She died in the asylum at the age of 79.[br /]
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Anna unfortunately did not share the same bond with her elder brother and their relationship was estranged. They never reconciled their differences. Same was the case with Elizabeth, Vincent’s middle sister. Cornelius van Gogh was the youngest of the Van Gogh children. He suffered a bad marriage and was killed in action in the Boer War. However there are rumors that he may have committed suicide.[br /]
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[b]Childhood[/b][br /]
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Vincent was a so-called replacement child, who grew up with a constant reminder of his own mortality, having to see the grave stone buried next to their house with his name and birth date inscribed on it. It could be the influence of that grave, always in front of his eyes, or some other reason, but Vincent never grew up as most other normal children would. He lived either in a state of ecstasy or depression, always on the crest or the trough. These qualities were certainly the major factor for not allowing him to mix with other children of his age. He grew up as a isolated child. One thing he enjoyed was taking long lonely walks in the fields.[br /]
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Rarely playing with his younger brothers and sisters and keeping himself away from them, he and his siblings were almost strangers to each other, amazingly, the strangers, who shared the same womb.[br /]
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He lived in his village Zundert untill he left it for the Jean Provily school at Zevenbergen, at the age of eleven. His parents sent him there in anticipation of a positive change in his attitide towards people and society in general. But the comparative dense population of the town made him more unsocial. He sank himself in the vast ocean of philosophical, theological and existential literature, which took him farther from people. As far as the lessons at the school were concerned, he did not do well.[br /]
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Vincent began drawing when he was at the school. He made a series of paintings during the school years, including one to present his father on his birthday.[br /]
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A couple of years later, in 1866, Vincent moved to another school at Tilburg. But change of place was in no way helpful to change his uncommon and abnormal disposition. His parents were worried for this reason. Ultimately he returned to Zundert in 1968 at the age of 15. Once again he was back to his old way of living-- going for a walk, reading and staying in isolation, with the only difference of an added activity, painting.[br /]
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[b] The Shaping Years[/b][br /]
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After staying for over a year in his village, he left for Hague, as an assistant to the manager of a branch of the Paris art dealers Goupil & co. He stayed there for four years from 1869 to 1873, which were relatively peaceful and good days of his life. His boss Mr. Tersteeg appreciated his work, which took the worry away from his parent's mind. He was transferred to the London branch in 1873. He stayed in London for two years at a boarding house kept by some Mrs Loyer. He shared the place with three German yuoung men, and enjoyed his stay at London. There he was attracted to the landlady's daughter Ursula. In a way which could be expected from him, Vincent, very reluctantly proposed her, which was turned down by Ursula for the reason that she was already engaged.[br /]
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Owing to his transfer, he left for Paris in May 1875. But his association with the company was not to last long. The company he was working with dealt in pictures, which he found to be an organized fraud, and he said so to his employers. In response, he got a dismissal.[br /]
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At a crucial juncture of the life, at the age when he could contribute something to the world, Vincent was once again hit by the cruelty of life. He was denied for love, he was out of job and away from family. Depression took over him once again. Just while he was losing all hopes, he saw a new dawn. In reply to one of the advertisements, he sent his application and consequently managed to get the work as junior master in a boarding-school at Ramsgate.[br /]
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His new job was to teach languages to the pupils, and collect the fees. Once again he experienced peace in his life, as he stayed at Ramsgate. He enjoyed walking by the side of sea with his pupils. He was asked to collect fees from the poor student's parents. Going to the slums where they lived, his heart got full of sorr0w and he would not ask for the fees, he neglected the very task he originally set out for. In a way he failed in his task as he could not collect the fees.[br /]
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Vincent left the job for which his sympathy with the poor made him incompetent, and instead became assistant-preacher to a clergyman. But speaking was not his cup-of-tea. He could not continue with that longer and moved through a series of frustrating experiences in every area of life. He tried his hand on anything that came to his way, but somehow this man was not meant for a so called normal life of a common man. He was now in his orbit, moving ahead for one of the most vulnerable and tragic life. He had jumped in a life that was full of blows and uncertainity. But in the midst of the terrible blows, he had one corner of univrse which supported him and sheltered him--his younger brother Theo.[br /]
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[b]Theo and Jo Van Gogh, Vincent’s Towers of Support[/b][br /]
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Theo was Vincent’s devoted younger brother. Throughout his life Vincent received support from Theo van Gogh. He used to send money and art supplies to his brother in Arles and gave him constant encouragement. He was by Vincent’s side on his deathbed. He died six months after Vincent’s death leaving behind a widow and a baby boy, also named Vincent. Recent evidence has suggested that Theo, like Vincent may have contracted syphilis. He had checked himself into a sanatorium shortly after that.[br /]
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However close, they were different characters. The two years that Vincent spent in Paris had a tremendous impact on his evolution as an artist. But now the time had come for him to leave this great city. There were tensions between the brothers, which had now reached its peak. Theo felt that Vincent despised him and he himself exasperated Vincent. The two brothers were an antithesis to each other. While Theo was the orderly one, Vincent was sloppier. Theo had also written to their sister Wil, expressing his feelings about the differences between the two brothers. He had said that Vincent tended to make life difficult for not only himself, but for others as well.[br /]
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It was through Vincent’s friend Andries Bonger, Jo’s brother, that Theo met his future wife. They were close friends and they eventually shared lodgings in Paris. She too was a great supporter of her brother-in-law’s work. The world is greatly indebted to Jo. After her husband’s death, Jo tirelessly sought to preserve and honor the great works of Vincent. It was due to her efforts that the correspondence between the two brothers was brought to life and throws a better light on the traumas that Vincent went through in life. As the demand for Vincent’s work grew after his death, Jo ensured that all the works in her possession stayed together and weren’t scattered in sales to private dealers all over the world. This faith has ensured that Vincent’s life and works will never be forgotten and also it was Jo’s efforts and faith that led to the formation of the Van Gogh Foundation. [br /]
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[b]The Careers of Vincent Van Gogh[/b][br /]
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One of Vincent’s uncles was a successful art dealer working as a partner in Goupil and Company. When Vincent left school at 16, his uncle got him a job in his firm where he stayed for six years. In 1874 Vincent was transferred to London, where he fell in love with his landlady’s daughter, who rejected him. Then he worked for Goupil’s branch in Paris. The relationship between Vincent and Goupil became more strained as the years passed and in Paris he soon realized that he was no longer happy in dealing with paintings. He soon left Goupil.[br /]
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He gave away his own worldly goods to the poor. Vincent began teaching at Rev William P Stoke’s school in Ramsgate. He was teaching 24 boys between the ages of 10 and 14. He enjoyed teaching them. He moved on to teach at another school for boys. In his spare time Vincent continued to visit to galleries and admired the great works of art. He now seriously began to think of devoting life to the church.[br /]
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He had requested Rev. Jones, at the school in Isleworth to give him more responsibilities specific to the clergy. Soon, he gave his first Sunday sermon, which lacked the luster and was lifeless. Vincent began to find his studies increasingly difficult and realized that the lessons lacked the relevance of his most passionate desire, which was to preach to his own generation.[br /]
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When he failed to qualify for the mission school in Laeken after a three month trial period, he made arrangements with the church to begin a trial period teaching in one of the most inhospitable and impoverished regions in western Europe: the coal mining district of The Borinage, Belgium.[br /]
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He went to work as a lay preacher in 1879 among the impoverished coal miners and their families. Here, he developed a strong emotional attachment with the miners. He sympathized with their working conditions and did his best to ease their burden. He soon began to give away his food and clothing to the poor. The church strongly disapproved of it and soon he was dismissed from his post in July. Vincent refused to leave and moved to an adjacent village. Here, though he was not able to help the people in an official capacity, he still chose to remain as member of the community. Now Vincent took up drawing the miners and their families, depicting their harsh conditions. It was here that he chose his final career, to become an artist.[br /]
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After much introspection, he decided in 1880 to devote his life to art. In October of the same year he attended an art school in Brussels where he studied anatomy and perspective. In April next year till December, he stayed with his parents, continuing to work with the same devotion and vigor. Here another love affair shook him badly, and then a religious argument with his father reached such a pitch that Vincent walked out of the house and moved to Hague. Here too, he studied at an academic art school.[br /]
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[b]Vincent’s Failed Loves[/b][br /]
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Throughout his life Vincent was plagued with loneliness. Whatever attempts at happiness made by him with women were all unsuccessful. His first love affair with his landlady’s daughter, Ursula Loyer in London affected him so much that he lost his job. Ursula had rejected him saying that she was already engaged to be married to a former lodger of her mother’s. Jo, Theo’s wife, in her memoirs has mentioned that this changed his personality forever.[br /]
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He then fell in love with his widowed cousin Kee Vos, who stayed with his parents in Holland. She rejected his advances. Love makes people do crazy things and for Vincent it was no different. In order to prove his love for Kee, Vincent had held his hand over the flame of an oil lamp. Fortunately, Vincent’s hand was not burnt but this decision forced him to accept the lady’s decision.[br /]
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[b]A Short Lived Fulfillment at Love[/b][br /]
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Still craving for a fulfilling relationship, he met a pregnant prostitute called Sein. His loneliness was at its peak during this time. Sein and her child were like an answer to his silent prayers. She already had a five-year-old son. Sein and her child used to model for Vincent, thus helping him to develop as an artist. Vincent’s letters to Theo show that he was totally devoted to her, specially her child. They were like a family that he never had and in future he never would. This unlikely couple stayed together for a year and Vincent had plans to marry her when his brother Theo convinced him otherwise.[br /]
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[b]Margot, The Only Woman to Have Loved the Loner[/b][br /]
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When Vincent’s mother, in January 1884, injured her leg, he had gone to Nuenen to help her. Margot Begemann, the youngest daughter of their neighbor used to frequently visit Anna van Gogh. This is the only woman who seemed to have really loved Vincent. But fate did not want Vincent to be happy. Being a family man, with wife and children was never meant for him. This couple was not destined to be together. Neither of the families agreed to their union. This drove Margot to take poison. However, with Vincent’s intervention, she survived, but her dream of marrying the artist never realized.[br /]
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[b]Vincent Van Gogh, The Artist[/b][br /]
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Vincent’s artistic career was extremely short, lasting for about a decade. At first he concentrated on drawing, employing a teach-yourself method, known as the Bargues technique. However, he soon encountered the difficulties in self-training and began to seek the guidance of more experienced artists. The Impressionists and their followers were a great source of inspiration to him. This method suited Vincent’s purpose because he too liked to work fast, outdoors and use bright colors, especially yellow. This love for the yellow color is well reflected in Vincent’s letters to Theo. They always used to start with demands for large tubes of yellow and white paint. Over the years, Vincent produced dozens of paintings, weavers, spinners and other portraits. The local peasants continued to be his favorite subjects. The dashes and swirls were his trademarks. In the last two years of his life Vincent painted in waves and swirls, applied them so thickly that the strokes stood out of the canvas.[br /]
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Vincent was a man dedicated to work. He would work the entire day in the blazing heat of the summer. He would continue working into the night as well. To give himself enough light to paint The café terrace, he stuck candles around his broad-brimmed hat and along the top of his easel. Often, he would work for hours bringing himself to a breaking point, working non-stop for 16 hours a day. He always used to work in frenzied bursts of activity, not paying attention to his deteriorating health. He hardly used to break off for lunch or dinner as if almost aware of the short life span that was allotted to him.[br /]
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[b]A Letter to his brother Theo, states[/b][br /]
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"I should not be surprised if the Impressionists soon find fault with my way of painting, for it has been fertilized by the ideas of artist Delacroix rather than by theirs. Because, instead of trying to reproduce exactly what I have before my eyes, I use color more arbitrarily so as to express myself forcibly."[br /]
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His use of paint was extremely physical, a benefit of never having learned painting. His artistic style is as intense and intelligent as his writings. Among other painters, he greatly respected Millet, Delacroix, and Daumier.[br /]
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Vincent moved to Arles in the early months of 1888. Initially he was disappointed with the weather at Arles. But this soon changed. As the winter gave way to brightness and sunshine, Vincent spent most of his time outdoors. He had set up his studio in a room at Café de la Gare at 10 Palace Lamartine in early May. This place in history is famous as the Yellow House.[br /]
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During his time here, he made a lot of friends who modeled for him as well. This was the time when he began to contemplate inviting Paul Gauguin to join him so as to set up some kind of an artists’ society. Here also, he painted portraits of the village postman Joseph Roulin, the work titled The Postman Roulin. All of these close-up portraits were vibrant like the Arles sunshine. Of course, the color yellow was dominant in all of these works as well. All these bright works including Pere Tanguy show that he had now begun to abandon the bleak and depressing compositions of the peasants and had taken up capturing the delightful and happy images of his friends and surroundings.[br /]
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[b] Insanity and Confinement[/b][br /]
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During this decade as an artist he was in and out of hospitals and asylums as well. When in a fit of madness he had cut off his ear lobe, he was admitted to the Hotel-Dieu hospital in Arles. The artist had suffered severe blood loss due to which he was incapacitated. Theo, the ever-faithful brother had rushed down from Paris. All were sure that Vincent would not be able to survive this ordeal. However, the strong soul that he was, he recovered. But soon the following month of his recovery he suffered another attack where he imagined himself being poisoned. Again he had to be taken to the hospital for observation.[br /]
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At the hospital in Arles, Dr Felix Rey supervised Vincent. He was one of Vincent’s most sympathetic doctors. Dr Rey went to become an expert on tuberculosis and was awarded the silver medal of the Ministry of the Interior for his work during a cholera epidemic. Vincent had gifted a portrait to Dr Rey as well, who unfortunately, never liked painting.[br /]
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Soon, Vincent had begun to realize that he was seriously sick and after discussions with Theo, agreed to have himself voluntarily confined to the Saint-Paul-de-Mausole asylum in Saint-Remy-de-Provence. Here Vincent was placed under the care of Dr Auguste Peyron, who diagnosed him as suffering from epilepsy. As the weeks passed by in the asylum, Vincent’s condition improved and he was allowed to resume painting. This was the time when he had produced his best-known work, Starry Night.[br /]
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In his letters, Vincent says, "As for me, I am rather often uneasy in my mind, because I think that my life has not been calm enough; all those bitter disappointments, adversities, changes keep me from developing fully and naturally in my artistic career."[br /]
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However, this mental stability was only short lived. Vincent had another attack during which he had tried to ingest his own paints. As a result he was kept in confinement and also away from paints. But as soon as he was allowed to resume painting, Vincent’s mental state also improved. Soon, he began to contemplate his departure from the asylum.[br /]
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A year after the ear-slashing incident, Vincent suffered another attack, which lasted for a week. Here, due to his confinement, he made copies of other artist’s works. Vincent had now begun to suffer more attacks during the early months of 1890. He was at his lowest state and now his work had begun to receive critical acclaim. Now, he had renewed hopes of leaving the asylum and returning north and settling somewhere closer to Paris. Theo had made arrangements to place Vincent in the care of Dr Paul Gachet, a homeopathic therapist living in Auvers-sur-Oise, near Paris.[br /]
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Adeline Ravoux, the 12-year daughter of the innkeeper Arthur-Gustave Ravoux, who gave Vincent lodgings when he arrived, used to model for Vincent. Vincent had given the innkeeper two of his paintings, Auvers Town Hall and the portrait of his daughter The Portrait of Adeline Ravoux. They sold in 1988 for $13,750,000.[br /]
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Man is known, not just for the way he lives, but more for what he leaves behind him. This is particularly true for Vincent Van Gogh, the man who lived one of the most tragic personal life and still, he is remembered for the wonderful legacy he has left in form of his paintings.[br /]
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Vincent was the first surviving son of a local Protestant pastor. He was born in a small Dutch village of Groot Zundert, near the Belgian frontier on March 30, 1853, exactly a year after his mother had given birth to a stillborn baby boy, christened by the same name of Vincent William.[br /]
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Theodorous van Gogh, Vincent’s father, had a somewhat stormy relationship with his son regarding his indifference to the church and his passion to become a painter. Anna van Gogh, Vincent’s mother had passed her enthusiasm for art to her son at an early age and was always supportive to his work. The daughter of a bookbinder, she was also related to painters and art dealers. She too painted watercolors before marriage.[br /]
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Vincent did not have a particularly close relationship with his younger siblings except his brother Theo, who was there for him during his difficult years. Of Vincent’s three sisters, he was closest by far to Wilhelmina. Unfortunately, Wil also shared the same mental problems as her brother. A few years after Vincent and Theo’s death, she too was institutionalized. She died in the asylum at the age of 79.[br /]
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Anna unfortunately did not share the same bond with her elder brother and their relationship was estranged. They never reconciled their differences. Same was the case with Elizabeth, Vincent’s middle sister. Cornelius van Gogh was the youngest of the Van Gogh children. He suffered a bad marriage and was killed in action in the Boer War. However there are rumors that he may have committed suicide.[br /]
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[b]Childhood[/b][br /]
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Vincent was a so-called replacement child, who grew up with a constant reminder of his own mortality, having to see the grave stone buried next to their house with his name and birth date inscribed on it. It could be the influence of that grave, always in front of his eyes, or some other reason, but Vincent never grew up as most other normal children would. He lived either in a state of ecstasy or depression, always on the crest or the trough. These qualities were certainly the major factor for not allowing him to mix with other children of his age. He grew up as a isolated child. One thing he enjoyed was taking long lonely walks in the fields.[br /]
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Rarely playing with his younger brothers and sisters and keeping himself away from them, he and his siblings were almost strangers to each other, amazingly, the strangers, who shared the same womb.[br /]
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He lived in his village Zundert untill he left it for the Jean Provily school at Zevenbergen, at the age of eleven. His parents sent him there in anticipation of a positive change in his attitide towards people and society in general. But the comparative dense population of the town made him more unsocial. He sank himself in the vast ocean of philosophical, theological and existential literature, which took him farther from people. As far as the lessons at the school were concerned, he did not do well.[br /]
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Vincent began drawing when he was at the school. He made a series of paintings during the school years, including one to present his father on his birthday.[br /]
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A couple of years later, in 1866, Vincent moved to another school at Tilburg. But change of place was in no way helpful to change his uncommon and abnormal disposition. His parents were worried for this reason. Ultimately he returned to Zundert in 1968 at the age of 15. Once again he was back to his old way of living-- going for a walk, reading and staying in isolation, with the only difference of an added activity, painting.[br /]
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[b] The Shaping Years[/b][br /]
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After staying for over a year in his village, he left for Hague, as an assistant to the manager of a branch of the Paris art dealers Goupil & co. He stayed there for four years from 1869 to 1873, which were relatively peaceful and good days of his life. His boss Mr. Tersteeg appreciated his work, which took the worry away from his parent's mind. He was transferred to the London branch in 1873. He stayed in London for two years at a boarding house kept by some Mrs Loyer. He shared the place with three German yuoung men, and enjoyed his stay at London. There he was attracted to the landlady's daughter Ursula. In a way which could be expected from him, Vincent, very reluctantly proposed her, which was turned down by Ursula for the reason that she was already engaged.[br /]
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Owing to his transfer, he left for Paris in May 1875. But his association with the company was not to last long. The company he was working with dealt in pictures, which he found to be an organized fraud, and he said so to his employers. In response, he got a dismissal.[br /]
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At a crucial juncture of the life, at the age when he could contribute something to the world, Vincent was once again hit by the cruelty of life. He was denied for love, he was out of job and away from family. Depression took over him once again. Just while he was losing all hopes, he saw a new dawn. In reply to one of the advertisements, he sent his application and consequently managed to get the work as junior master in a boarding-school at Ramsgate.[br /]
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His new job was to teach languages to the pupils, and collect the fees. Once again he experienced peace in his life, as he stayed at Ramsgate. He enjoyed walking by the side of sea with his pupils. He was asked to collect fees from the poor student's parents. Going to the slums where they lived, his heart got full of sorr0w and he would not ask for the fees, he neglected the very task he originally set out for. In a way he failed in his task as he could not collect the fees.[br /]
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Vincent left the job for which his sympathy with the poor made him incompetent, and instead became assistant-preacher to a clergyman. But speaking was not his cup-of-tea. He could not continue with that longer and moved through a series of frustrating experiences in every area of life. He tried his hand on anything that came to his way, but somehow this man was not meant for a so called normal life of a common man. He was now in his orbit, moving ahead for one of the most vulnerable and tragic life. He had jumped in a life that was full of blows and uncertainity. But in the midst of the terrible blows, he had one corner of univrse which supported him and sheltered him--his younger brother Theo.[br /]
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[b]Theo and Jo Van Gogh, Vincent’s Towers of Support[/b][br /]
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Theo was Vincent’s devoted younger brother. Throughout his life Vincent received support from Theo van Gogh. He used to send money and art supplies to his brother in Arles and gave him constant encouragement. He was by Vincent’s side on his deathbed. He died six months after Vincent’s death leaving behind a widow and a baby boy, also named Vincent. Recent evidence has suggested that Theo, like Vincent may have contracted syphilis. He had checked himself into a sanatorium shortly after that.[br /]
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However close, they were different characters. The two years that Vincent spent in Paris had a tremendous impact on his evolution as an artist. But now the time had come for him to leave this great city. There were tensions between the brothers, which had now reached its peak. Theo felt that Vincent despised him and he himself exasperated Vincent. The two brothers were an antithesis to each other. While Theo was the orderly one, Vincent was sloppier. Theo had also written to their sister Wil, expressing his feelings about the differences between the two brothers. He had said that Vincent tended to make life difficult for not only himself, but for others as well.[br /]
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It was through Vincent’s friend Andries Bonger, Jo’s brother, that Theo met his future wife. They were close friends and they eventually shared lodgings in Paris. She too was a great supporter of her brother-in-law’s work. The world is greatly indebted to Jo. After her husband’s death, Jo tirelessly sought to preserve and honor the great works of Vincent. It was due to her efforts that the correspondence between the two brothers was brought to life and throws a better light on the traumas that Vincent went through in life. As the demand for Vincent’s work grew after his death, Jo ensured that all the works in her possession stayed together and weren’t scattered in sales to private dealers all over the world. This faith has ensured that Vincent’s life and works will never be forgotten and also it was Jo’s efforts and faith that led to the formation of the Van Gogh Foundation. [br /]
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[b]The Careers of Vincent Van Gogh[/b][br /]
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One of Vincent’s uncles was a successful art dealer working as a partner in Goupil and Company. When Vincent left school at 16, his uncle got him a job in his firm where he stayed for six years. In 1874 Vincent was transferred to London, where he fell in love with his landlady’s daughter, who rejected him. Then he worked for Goupil’s branch in Paris. The relationship between Vincent and Goupil became more strained as the years passed and in Paris he soon realized that he was no longer happy in dealing with paintings. He soon left Goupil.[br /]
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He gave away his own worldly goods to the poor. Vincent began teaching at Rev William P Stoke’s school in Ramsgate. He was teaching 24 boys between the ages of 10 and 14. He enjoyed teaching them. He moved on to teach at another school for boys. In his spare time Vincent continued to visit to galleries and admired the great works of art. He now seriously began to think of devoting life to the church.[br /]
[br /]
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He had requested Rev. Jones, at the school in Isleworth to give him more responsibilities specific to the clergy. Soon, he gave his first Sunday sermon, which lacked the luster and was lifeless. Vincent began to find his studies increasingly difficult and realized that the lessons lacked the relevance of his most passionate desire, which was to preach to his own generation.[br /]
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When he failed to qualify for the mission school in Laeken after a three month trial period, he made arrangements with the church to begin a trial period teaching in one of the most inhospitable and impoverished regions in western Europe: the coal mining district of The Borinage, Belgium.[br /]
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He went to work as a lay preacher in 1879 among the impoverished coal miners and their families. Here, he developed a strong emotional attachment with the miners. He sympathized with their working conditions and did his best to ease their burden. He soon began to give away his food and clothing to the poor. The church strongly disapproved of it and soon he was dismissed from his post in July. Vincent refused to leave and moved to an adjacent village. Here, though he was not able to help the people in an official capacity, he still chose to remain as member of the community. Now Vincent took up drawing the miners and their families, depicting their harsh conditions. It was here that he chose his final career, to become an artist.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
After much introspection, he decided in 1880 to devote his life to art. In October of the same year he attended an art school in Brussels where he studied anatomy and perspective. In April next year till December, he stayed with his parents, continuing to work with the same devotion and vigor. Here another love affair shook him badly, and then a religious argument with his father reached such a pitch that Vincent walked out of the house and moved to Hague. Here too, he studied at an academic art school.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b]Vincent’s Failed Loves[/b][br /]
[br /]
[br /]
Throughout his life Vincent was plagued with loneliness. Whatever attempts at happiness made by him with women were all unsuccessful. His first love affair with his landlady’s daughter, Ursula Loyer in London affected him so much that he lost his job. Ursula had rejected him saying that she was already engaged to be married to a former lodger of her mother’s. Jo, Theo’s wife, in her memoirs has mentioned that this changed his personality forever.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
He then fell in love with his widowed cousin Kee Vos, who stayed with his parents in Holland. She rejected his advances. Love makes people do crazy things and for Vincent it was no different. In order to prove his love for Kee, Vincent had held his hand over the flame of an oil lamp. Fortunately, Vincent’s hand was not burnt but this decision forced him to accept the lady’s decision.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b]A Short Lived Fulfillment at Love[/b][br /]
[br /]
[br /]
Still craving for a fulfilling relationship, he met a pregnant prostitute called Sein. His loneliness was at its peak during this time. Sein and her child were like an answer to his silent prayers. She already had a five-year-old son. Sein and her child used to model for Vincent, thus helping him to develop as an artist. Vincent’s letters to Theo show that he was totally devoted to her, specially her child. They were like a family that he never had and in future he never would. This unlikely couple stayed together for a year and Vincent had plans to marry her when his brother Theo convinced him otherwise.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b]Margot, The Only Woman to Have Loved the Loner[/b][br /]
[br /]
[br /]
When Vincent’s mother, in January 1884, injured her leg, he had gone to Nuenen to help her. Margot Begemann, the youngest daughter of their neighbor used to frequently visit Anna van Gogh. This is the only woman who seemed to have really loved Vincent. But fate did not want Vincent to be happy. Being a family man, with wife and children was never meant for him. This couple was not destined to be together. Neither of the families agreed to their union. This drove Margot to take poison. However, with Vincent’s intervention, she survived, but her dream of marrying the artist never realized.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b]Vincent Van Gogh, The Artist[/b][br /]
[br /]
[br /]
Vincent’s artistic career was extremely short, lasting for about a decade. At first he concentrated on drawing, employing a teach-yourself method, known as the Bargues technique. However, he soon encountered the difficulties in self-training and began to seek the guidance of more experienced artists. The Impressionists and their followers were a great source of inspiration to him. This method suited Vincent’s purpose because he too liked to work fast, outdoors and use bright colors, especially yellow. This love for the yellow color is well reflected in Vincent’s letters to Theo. They always used to start with demands for large tubes of yellow and white paint. Over the years, Vincent produced dozens of paintings, weavers, spinners and other portraits. The local peasants continued to be his favorite subjects. The dashes and swirls were his trademarks. In the last two years of his life Vincent painted in waves and swirls, applied them so thickly that the strokes stood out of the canvas.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
Vincent was a man dedicated to work. He would work the entire day in the blazing heat of the summer. He would continue working into the night as well. To give himself enough light to paint The café terrace, he stuck candles around his broad-brimmed hat and along the top of his easel. Often, he would work for hours bringing himself to a breaking point, working non-stop for 16 hours a day. He always used to work in frenzied bursts of activity, not paying attention to his deteriorating health. He hardly used to break off for lunch or dinner as if almost aware of the short life span that was allotted to him.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b]A Letter to his brother Theo, states[/b][br /]
[br /]
[br /]
"I should not be surprised if the Impressionists soon find fault with my way of painting, for it has been fertilized by the ideas of artist Delacroix rather than by theirs. Because, instead of trying to reproduce exactly what I have before my eyes, I use color more arbitrarily so as to express myself forcibly."[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
His use of paint was extremely physical, a benefit of never having learned painting. His artistic style is as intense and intelligent as his writings. Among other painters, he greatly respected Millet, Delacroix, and Daumier.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
Vincent moved to Arles in the early months of 1888. Initially he was disappointed with the weather at Arles. But this soon changed. As the winter gave way to brightness and sunshine, Vincent spent most of his time outdoors. He had set up his studio in a room at Café de la Gare at 10 Palace Lamartine in early May. This place in history is famous as the Yellow House.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
During his time here, he made a lot of friends who modeled for him as well. This was the time when he began to contemplate inviting Paul Gauguin to join him so as to set up some kind of an artists’ society. Here also, he painted portraits of the village postman Joseph Roulin, the work titled The Postman Roulin. All of these close-up portraits were vibrant like the Arles sunshine. Of course, the color yellow was dominant in all of these works as well. All these bright works including Pere Tanguy show that he had now begun to abandon the bleak and depressing compositions of the peasants and had taken up capturing the delightful and happy images of his friends and surroundings.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b] Insanity and Confinement[/b][br /]
[br /]
[br /]
During this decade as an artist he was in and out of hospitals and asylums as well. When in a fit of madness he had cut off his ear lobe, he was admitted to the Hotel-Dieu hospital in Arles. The artist had suffered severe blood loss due to which he was incapacitated. Theo, the ever-faithful brother had rushed down from Paris. All were sure that Vincent would not be able to survive this ordeal. However, the strong soul that he was, he recovered. But soon the following month of his recovery he suffered another attack where he imagined himself being poisoned. Again he had to be taken to the hospital for observation.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
At the hospital in Arles, Dr Felix Rey supervised Vincent. He was one of Vincent’s most sympathetic doctors. Dr Rey went to become an expert on tuberculosis and was awarded the silver medal of the Ministry of the Interior for his work during a cholera epidemic. Vincent had gifted a portrait to Dr Rey as well, who unfortunately, never liked painting.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
Soon, Vincent had begun to realize that he was seriously sick and after discussions with Theo, agreed to have himself voluntarily confined to the Saint-Paul-de-Mausole asylum in Saint-Remy-de-Provence. Here Vincent was placed under the care of Dr Auguste Peyron, who diagnosed him as suffering from epilepsy. As the weeks passed by in the asylum, Vincent’s condition improved and he was allowed to resume painting. This was the time when he had produced his best-known work, Starry Night.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
In his letters, Vincent says, "As for me, I am rather often uneasy in my mind, because I think that my life has not been calm enough; all those bitter disappointments, adversities, changes keep me from developing fully and naturally in my artistic career."[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
However, this mental stability was only short lived. Vincent had another attack during which he had tried to ingest his own paints. As a result he was kept in confinement and also away from paints. But as soon as he was allowed to resume painting, Vincent’s mental state also improved. Soon, he began to contemplate his departure from the asylum.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
A year after the ear-slashing incident, Vincent suffered another attack, which lasted for a week. Here, due to his confinement, he made copies of other artist’s works. Vincent had now begun to suffer more attacks during the early months of 1890. He was at his lowest state and now his work had begun to receive critical acclaim. Now, he had renewed hopes of leaving the asylum and returning north and settling somewhere closer to Paris. Theo had made arrangements to place Vincent in the care of Dr Paul Gachet, a homeopathic therapist living in Auvers-sur-Oise, near Paris.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
Adeline Ravoux, the 12-year daughter of the innkeeper Arthur-Gustave Ravoux, who gave Vincent lodgings when he arrived, used to model for Vincent. Vincent had given the innkeeper two of his paintings, Auvers Town Hall and the portrait of his daughter The Portrait of Adeline Ravoux. They sold in 1988 for $13,750,000.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b]VINCENT VAN GOGH (1853 – 1890)[/b][br /]
[br /]
[br /]
Vincent van Gogh was one of the most original artists, largely self-taught. On the basis of works of the last three years of his life, Van Gogh is generally considered to be one of the greatest painters of all time. His work has influenced the development of modern painting greatly. An artist whose work represents the archetype of Expressionism, the idea of emotional spontaneity in painting.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
Vincent took up painting at the age of 27 after working as a salesman in an art gallery, a French tutor, a theological student and an Evangelist in a poor mining section of Belgium, the Borinage. Earlier, he had also worked with his uncle in Goupil and Co, the art dealers. But he soon left due to circumstances, including a failed attempt at seeking love.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
Vincent van Gogh was inspired by the wave of Impressionism during his years in Paris where he came into contact with the likes of Paul Gauguin, Camille Pissarro, Georges Seurat and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. He was also influenced by the Japanese style of art.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
This great artist’s life was a struggle against poverty, insanity, hunger and alcoholism. Always desperately poor, he was sustained by the faith and finance bestowed upon by his lifetime supporter Theo. After Theo’s death, his wife Jo continued efforts to make Vincent’s work known to the world. She was instrumental in bringing to light the correspondence between the two brothers over the years. These letters have helped the world understand the Vincent van Gogh, who was an artist, a brother, and an eccentric.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
During his lifetime he had sold only one painting The Red Vineyard at Arles. However, he produced more than 800 oil paintings and 700 drawings in his lifetime. The name of Van Gogh was virtually unknown when he killed himself. His fame dates back to the early 20th century after which his reputation has never ceased. His work The Portrait of Dr Gachet sold for $82.5 million, the highest ever price paid for a painting.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
Vincent van Gogh was one of the most original artists, largely self-taught. On the basis of works of the last three years of his life, Van Gogh is generally considered to be one of the greatest painters of all time. His work has influenced the development of modern painting greatly. An artist whose work represents the archetype of Expressionism, the idea of emotional spontaneity in painting.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
Vincent took up painting at the age of 27 after working as a salesman in an art gallery, a French tutor, a theological student and an Evangelist in a poor mining section of Belgium, the Borinage. Earlier, he had also worked with his uncle in Goupil and Co, the art dealers. But he soon left due to circumstances, including a failed attempt at seeking love.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
Vincent van Gogh was inspired by the wave of Impressionism during his years in Paris where he came into contact with the likes of Paul Gauguin, Camille Pissarro, Georges Seurat and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. He was also influenced by the Japanese style of art.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
This great artist’s life was a struggle against poverty, insanity, hunger and alcoholism. Always desperately poor, he was sustained by the faith and finance bestowed upon by his lifetime supporter Theo. After Theo’s death, his wife Jo continued efforts to make Vincent’s work known to the world. She was instrumental in bringing to light the correspondence between the two brothers over the years. These letters have helped the world understand the Vincent van Gogh, who was an artist, a brother, and an eccentric.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
During his lifetime he had sold only one painting The Red Vineyard at Arles. However, he produced more than 800 oil paintings and 700 drawings in his lifetime. The name of Van Gogh was virtually unknown when he killed himself. His fame dates back to the early 20th century after which his reputation has never ceased. His work The Portrait of Dr Gachet sold for $82.5 million, the highest ever price paid for a painting.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b]1853[/b][br /]
Vincent van Gogh was born in a small village of Groot Zundert, Holland to Theodore van Gogh and Anna Cornelia nee Carbentus.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b]1857[/b][br /]
Theo, Vincent’s younger brother and loyal supporter was born.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b]1864[/b][br /]
Vincent began schooling in Zevenbergen and studied French, English and German.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b]1869[/b][br /]
A 16-year-old Vincent went to work for his uncle at Goupil and Co. in The Hague.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b]1872[/b][br /]
Vincent and Theo begin a life-long correspondence.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b]1873[/b]
Vincent is transferred to the London branch of Goupil, but dismissed.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b]1876[/b][br /]
He left Goupil in early spring and took up a post of teacher, but resigned to become an assistant to a Methodist minister.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b] 1877[/b][br /]
Vincent left England and took up a temporary job in a bookshop. He then pursued religious studies in Amsterdam.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b]1878[/b][br /]
He moved to a coal mining district in Belgium to become an evangelist.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b]1879[/b][br /]
His work among the miners continued where he devoted all his energy towards helping the miners giving them clothes and food that he could ill afford.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b]1880 [/b] [br /]
A turning point, when Vincent devoted himself to painting the miners and poverty stricken weavers. Theo supports his brother financially.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b]1882[/b][br /]
Vincent met Sein, a pregnant prostitute and they moved in together.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b]1883[/b][br /]
He ended his relationship with Sein. He also traveled to Drente in Northern Holland and painted the bleak landscape and the peasant workers.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b]1884[/b][br /]
Began a relationship with a neighbor’s daughter, Margot Begemann. Both families were opposed to the marriage and Margot attempted to poison herself. [br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b]1885[/b][br /]
Painted The Potato Eaters, his first great work. Became interested in Japanese woodcuts.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b]1886[/b][br /]
Moved in with his brother Theo in Paris.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b]1887[/b][br /]
Throughout the year Vincent continued work in Paris. He frequented cafes with other painters and argued about art with Bernard and Gauguin. Over the year he also experimented with some different styles, including Japonaiseries and Pointillism.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b]1888 [/b] [br /]
Left Paris and moved to Arles in the south of France. Paul Gauguin joined him. In December of the same year, he attacked Gauguin with a razor. After the failed attack, Vincent lost all reason and cut off his earlobe.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b]1889[/b][br /]
Due to the increased frequency of his mental breakdowns, Vincent entered the mental asylum at Saint-Remy-de-Provence.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b]1890[/b][br /]
In May Vincent moved to Auvers-sur-Oise, just north of Paris under the care of Dr Gachet. However, on July 27, Vincent on a walk shot himself with a pistol. He died early morning on July 29, with his brother by his side. [br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b]1891[/b][br /]
Theo died, six months after Vincent.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b]1914[/b][br /]
Theo’s body is exhumed and buried next to Vincent in Auvers-sur-Oise.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b]1962[/b][br /]
Vincent van Gogh Foundation is established in Amsterdam.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b]1973[/b][br /]
The Van Gogh museum is built by the Dutch Government, which holds hundreds of Vincent’s works as well as a huge archive containing letters and documents.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
Vincent van Gogh was born in a small village of Groot Zundert, Holland to Theodore van Gogh and Anna Cornelia nee Carbentus.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b]1857[/b][br /]
Theo, Vincent’s younger brother and loyal supporter was born.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b]1864[/b][br /]
Vincent began schooling in Zevenbergen and studied French, English and German.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b]1869[/b][br /]
A 16-year-old Vincent went to work for his uncle at Goupil and Co. in The Hague.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b]1872[/b][br /]
Vincent and Theo begin a life-long correspondence.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b]1873[/b]
Vincent is transferred to the London branch of Goupil, but dismissed.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b]1876[/b][br /]
He left Goupil in early spring and took up a post of teacher, but resigned to become an assistant to a Methodist minister.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b] 1877[/b][br /]
Vincent left England and took up a temporary job in a bookshop. He then pursued religious studies in Amsterdam.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b]1878[/b][br /]
He moved to a coal mining district in Belgium to become an evangelist.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b]1879[/b][br /]
His work among the miners continued where he devoted all his energy towards helping the miners giving them clothes and food that he could ill afford.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b]1880 [/b] [br /]
A turning point, when Vincent devoted himself to painting the miners and poverty stricken weavers. Theo supports his brother financially.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b]1882[/b][br /]
Vincent met Sein, a pregnant prostitute and they moved in together.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b]1883[/b][br /]
He ended his relationship with Sein. He also traveled to Drente in Northern Holland and painted the bleak landscape and the peasant workers.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b]1884[/b][br /]
Began a relationship with a neighbor’s daughter, Margot Begemann. Both families were opposed to the marriage and Margot attempted to poison herself. [br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b]1885[/b][br /]
Painted The Potato Eaters, his first great work. Became interested in Japanese woodcuts.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b]1886[/b][br /]
Moved in with his brother Theo in Paris.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b]1887[/b][br /]
Throughout the year Vincent continued work in Paris. He frequented cafes with other painters and argued about art with Bernard and Gauguin. Over the year he also experimented with some different styles, including Japonaiseries and Pointillism.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b]1888 [/b] [br /]
Left Paris and moved to Arles in the south of France. Paul Gauguin joined him. In December of the same year, he attacked Gauguin with a razor. After the failed attack, Vincent lost all reason and cut off his earlobe.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b]1889[/b][br /]
Due to the increased frequency of his mental breakdowns, Vincent entered the mental asylum at Saint-Remy-de-Provence.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b]1890[/b][br /]
In May Vincent moved to Auvers-sur-Oise, just north of Paris under the care of Dr Gachet. However, on July 27, Vincent on a walk shot himself with a pistol. He died early morning on July 29, with his brother by his side. [br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b]1891[/b][br /]
Theo died, six months after Vincent.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b]1914[/b][br /]
Theo’s body is exhumed and buried next to Vincent in Auvers-sur-Oise.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b]1962[/b][br /]
Vincent van Gogh Foundation is established in Amsterdam.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b]1973[/b][br /]
The Van Gogh museum is built by the Dutch Government, which holds hundreds of Vincent’s works as well as a huge archive containing letters and documents.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b]The Potato Eaters (1885)[/b][br /]
[br /]
[br /]
Acknowledged as Vincent’s true masterpiece –a night scene where the peasants sit at a meal around their table. The coarseness of the peasants is emphasized here. The warmth and harmony that the peasant community seemed to share. The painting in black and brown shows that the Impressionism inspired period had not as yet set in.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
This masterpiece is dark, and the subject matter here shows the artist’s concern for the hard life of the peasant. According to Vincent, he had tried to emphasize that the farmers, after a day of hard work digging into the earth, put those very hands into the dish. Here he has tried to highlight the dignity of manual labor and how honestly the farmers have earned their meal.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b]The Bedroom at Arles (1888/9)[/b][br /]
[br /]
[br /]
It shows the bedroom in Vincent’s house in Arles. He has painted this in pure colors with strongly drawn outlines. This picture was painted while he waited for the arrival of Paul Gauguin and the picture reflects the artist’s excitement that his solitude was about to end.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
In a letter to his brother Theo, Vincent has described The Bedroom in Arles, which says,[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
"Another size 30 canvas. This time it’s just simply my bedroom, only here color is to do everything, and giving by its simplification a grander style to things, is to be suggestive here of rest or of sleep in general. In a word, looking at the picture out to rest the brain, or rather the imagination. The walls are pale violet. The floor is of red tiles. The wood of the bed and chairs is the yellow of fresh butter, the sheets and pillows very light greenish-citron."[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
"The coverlet scarlet. The window green. The toilet table orange, the basin blue, the doors lilac. And that is all – there is nothing in this room with its closed shutters. The broad lines of the furniture again must express inviolable rest. Portraits on the walls, and a mirror and a towel and some clothes. The frame – as there is no white in the picture – will be white. This by way of revenge for the enforced rest I was obliged to take."[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b]Sunflowers (1888)[/b][br /]
[br /]
[br /]
Probably Van Gogh’s best-known painting, it is made up almost entirely in yellow, which was Vincent’s favorite color. It was August, the sunflowers were blooming, and Van Gogh desperately wanted to capture them in a series of 12 pictures.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
He wanted to use this sunflower series to decorate Paul Gauguin’s room when he arrived in Arles. He ended up executing four such paintings out of which he liked only two, which he felt were good enough to hang in Gauguin’s room.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b] Café Terrace at Night (1888)[/b][br /]
[br /]
[br /]
This was also painted in Arles. This picture shows the technique that Vincent used while painting. He used dashes of thick paint, which was a method that he had learnt in Paris. The heavy yellow of the café roof makes it glow warmly against the dark blue of the night.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b]Starry Night (1889)[/b][br /]
[br /]
[br /]
This vibrant piece of art was completed 13 months before Vincent’s death. The masterpiece has fireworks painted right across. Here the whole world seems to be engulfed in circular movements. The moon and the stars are shown with the halo of yellow paint that deeply contrasts the bright violet sky. This picture also perhaps reflects the inner turmoil that Vincent was experiencing.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b]Cornfield and Cypresses (1889)[/b][br /]
[br /]
[br /]
After his admission to the mental asylum, Vincent was allowed to paint outdoors. He was fascinated by the shape, form and texture of the cypresses and brought them to life in this fascinating piece of work.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b]Sorrow[/b][br /]
[br /]
[br /]
This is a very depressing picture as the title suggests. Here Vincent’s mistress Sein modeled for him, and this sketch shows her depressed and pregnant as he had found her first.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b]Drawbridge near Arles (1888)[/b][br /]
[br /]
[br /]
This bright piece of work is a vivid scene in six basic colors. The orange of the banks is a stark contrast to the blue of the river and the sky. This picture clearly shows the artist’s love for contrasting colors like brown and green or blue and yellow.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b]Wheat Field with Crows[/b][br /]
[br /]
[br /]
This is probably one of Vincent’s final works and is the most controversial. The crows rising above the stormy skies probably reflect Vincent’s own mental state in his last days. The churning wheat field must display the inner turmoil of the artist as well.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b]Gauguin’s Chair[/b][br /]
[br /]
[br /]
Anticipating Gauguin’s arrival, Vincent had purchased a chair for him. Since he always ended up painting a new subject, he too painted this wonderful picture. He had got this idea of the painting from an engraving of Charles Dickens chair that he had purchased in London, in commemoration of the great author. This picture also shows the dashes and swirls technique that Vincent used.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b]Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear (1889)[/b][br /]
[br /]
[br /]
He has commemorated the incident with Paul Gauguin when he had threatened him with a razor and then he eventually cut off his own ear lobe. The nightmare of insanity from which he never fully recovered.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b]Church at Auvers (1890)[/b][br /]
[br /]
[br /]
This picture was painted a month before he committed suicide. The picture of the village church has a strange look to it with twisted shapes and a strange perspective. The colors used are harsh.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b]Self-Portrait (1890)[/b][br /]
[br /]
[br /]
Throughout his life Vincent had painted many self-portraits. This was one of his last portraits. Here, he is seen looking tense and tired, after a series of breakdowns. The typical technique of dashes and swirls is reflected in the background and is seen to mingle with his blue jacket.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
Acknowledged as Vincent’s true masterpiece –a night scene where the peasants sit at a meal around their table. The coarseness of the peasants is emphasized here. The warmth and harmony that the peasant community seemed to share. The painting in black and brown shows that the Impressionism inspired period had not as yet set in.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
This masterpiece is dark, and the subject matter here shows the artist’s concern for the hard life of the peasant. According to Vincent, he had tried to emphasize that the farmers, after a day of hard work digging into the earth, put those very hands into the dish. Here he has tried to highlight the dignity of manual labor and how honestly the farmers have earned their meal.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b]The Bedroom at Arles (1888/9)[/b][br /]
[br /]
[br /]
It shows the bedroom in Vincent’s house in Arles. He has painted this in pure colors with strongly drawn outlines. This picture was painted while he waited for the arrival of Paul Gauguin and the picture reflects the artist’s excitement that his solitude was about to end.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
In a letter to his brother Theo, Vincent has described The Bedroom in Arles, which says,[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
"Another size 30 canvas. This time it’s just simply my bedroom, only here color is to do everything, and giving by its simplification a grander style to things, is to be suggestive here of rest or of sleep in general. In a word, looking at the picture out to rest the brain, or rather the imagination. The walls are pale violet. The floor is of red tiles. The wood of the bed and chairs is the yellow of fresh butter, the sheets and pillows very light greenish-citron."[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
"The coverlet scarlet. The window green. The toilet table orange, the basin blue, the doors lilac. And that is all – there is nothing in this room with its closed shutters. The broad lines of the furniture again must express inviolable rest. Portraits on the walls, and a mirror and a towel and some clothes. The frame – as there is no white in the picture – will be white. This by way of revenge for the enforced rest I was obliged to take."[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b]Sunflowers (1888)[/b][br /]
[br /]
[br /]
Probably Van Gogh’s best-known painting, it is made up almost entirely in yellow, which was Vincent’s favorite color. It was August, the sunflowers were blooming, and Van Gogh desperately wanted to capture them in a series of 12 pictures.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
He wanted to use this sunflower series to decorate Paul Gauguin’s room when he arrived in Arles. He ended up executing four such paintings out of which he liked only two, which he felt were good enough to hang in Gauguin’s room.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b] Café Terrace at Night (1888)[/b][br /]
[br /]
[br /]
This was also painted in Arles. This picture shows the technique that Vincent used while painting. He used dashes of thick paint, which was a method that he had learnt in Paris. The heavy yellow of the café roof makes it glow warmly against the dark blue of the night.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b]Starry Night (1889)[/b][br /]
[br /]
[br /]
This vibrant piece of art was completed 13 months before Vincent’s death. The masterpiece has fireworks painted right across. Here the whole world seems to be engulfed in circular movements. The moon and the stars are shown with the halo of yellow paint that deeply contrasts the bright violet sky. This picture also perhaps reflects the inner turmoil that Vincent was experiencing.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b]Cornfield and Cypresses (1889)[/b][br /]
[br /]
[br /]
After his admission to the mental asylum, Vincent was allowed to paint outdoors. He was fascinated by the shape, form and texture of the cypresses and brought them to life in this fascinating piece of work.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b]Sorrow[/b][br /]
[br /]
[br /]
This is a very depressing picture as the title suggests. Here Vincent’s mistress Sein modeled for him, and this sketch shows her depressed and pregnant as he had found her first.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b]Drawbridge near Arles (1888)[/b][br /]
[br /]
[br /]
This bright piece of work is a vivid scene in six basic colors. The orange of the banks is a stark contrast to the blue of the river and the sky. This picture clearly shows the artist’s love for contrasting colors like brown and green or blue and yellow.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b]Wheat Field with Crows[/b][br /]
[br /]
[br /]
This is probably one of Vincent’s final works and is the most controversial. The crows rising above the stormy skies probably reflect Vincent’s own mental state in his last days. The churning wheat field must display the inner turmoil of the artist as well.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b]Gauguin’s Chair[/b][br /]
[br /]
[br /]
Anticipating Gauguin’s arrival, Vincent had purchased a chair for him. Since he always ended up painting a new subject, he too painted this wonderful picture. He had got this idea of the painting from an engraving of Charles Dickens chair that he had purchased in London, in commemoration of the great author. This picture also shows the dashes and swirls technique that Vincent used.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b]Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear (1889)[/b][br /]
[br /]
[br /]
He has commemorated the incident with Paul Gauguin when he had threatened him with a razor and then he eventually cut off his own ear lobe. The nightmare of insanity from which he never fully recovered.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b]Church at Auvers (1890)[/b][br /]
[br /]
[br /]
This picture was painted a month before he committed suicide. The picture of the village church has a strange look to it with twisted shapes and a strange perspective. The colors used are harsh.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b]Self-Portrait (1890)[/b][br /]
[br /]
[br /]
Throughout his life Vincent had painted many self-portraits. This was one of his last portraits. Here, he is seen looking tense and tired, after a series of breakdowns. The typical technique of dashes and swirls is reflected in the background and is seen to mingle with his blue jacket.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
These letters have made a significant contribution in studying and analyzing the life of the great artist and individual whose downturns in life made him put all that he felt into his work. These letters show that Vincent was a gifted individual highly dependent on his brother for his emotional as well as financial support.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b]Van Gogh to his brother Theo, July 21, 1882[/b][br /]
[br /]
[br /]
"Art is jealous, she doesn’t like taking second place and indisposition. Hence I shall humor her. ... What I want and have as my aim is infernally difficult to achieve, and yet I don’t think I am raising my sights too high. I want to do drawings that touch some people." [br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b]September 3, 1882[/b][br /]
[br /]
[br /]
"I said to myself while I was doing it: don’t let me leave before there is something of the autumnal evening in it, something mysterious, something important. However -- because this effect doesn’t last -- I had to paint quickly, putting the figures in all at once, with a few forceful strokes of a firm brush. It had struck me how firmly the saplings were planted in the ground -- I started on them with the brush, but because the ground was already impasted, brush strokes simply vanished into it. Then I squeezed roots and trunks in from the tube and modeled them a little with the brush.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
In a way I am glad that I never learned painting. In all probability I would then have learned to ignore such effects as this. Now I can say to myself, this is just what I want. If it is impossible, it is impossible, but I’m going to try it even though I don’t know how it ought to be done."[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b]October 22, 1882[/b][br /]
[br /]
[br /]
"What is drawing? How does one come to it? It is working through an invisible iron wall that seems to stand between what one feels and what one can do. How is one to get through that wall -- since pounding at it is of no use? In my opinion one has to undermine that wall, filing through it steadily and patiently."[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b]October 1884[/b][br /]
[br /]
[br /]
"You don’t know how paralyzing that is, that stare of a blank canvas, which says to the painter: you can’t do a thing ... Many painters are afraid in front of the blank canvas, but the blank canvas is afraid of the real, passionate painter who dares and who has broken the spell of you can’t once and for all."[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
"A gray woven from red, blue, yellow, off-white & black threads -- a blue broken by a green and an orange, red or yellow thread -- are quite unlike plain colors, that is, they are more vibrant, and primary colors seem hard, cold and lifeless beside them."[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b]July 1885[/b][br /]
[br /]
[br /]
"... a Parisian who has learned his drawing at the academy, will always convey the limbs and the structure of the body in the same way -- sometimes charming, accurate in proportion and anatomical detail. But when Israëls, or say, Daumier or Lhermitte, draw a figure, one gets much more of a sense of the shape of the body, and yet -- and that’s the very reason I’m pleased to include Daumier - the proportions will sometimes be almost arbitrary, the anatomy and structure often anything but correct in the eyes of the academicians. But it will live. And Delacroix too, in particular."[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
"... if one were to photograph a digger, he would certainly not be digging then. ... I long most of all to learn how to produce those very inaccuracies, those very aberrations, reworkings, transformations of reality, as may turn it into, well -- a lie if you like -- but truer than the literal truth."[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b]September 3, 1888[/b][br /]
[br /]
[br /]
"...Suffering as I am, I cannot do without something greater than myself, something which is my life -- the power to create.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
And if, deprived of the physical power, one tries to create thoughts instead of children, one is still very much part of humanity. And in my pictures I want to say something consoling, as music does. I want to paint men and women with a touch of the eternal, whose symbol was once the halo, which we try to convey by the very radiance and vibrancy of our coloring."[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b]About his mother Vincent wrote to Theo[/b][br /]
[br /]
[br /]
"I am working on a portrait of Mother, because the black-and-white photograph annoys me so. Ah, what portraits could be made from nature with photography and painting! I always hope that we are still to have a great revolution in portraiture."[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
Vincent’s long time friend, the painter Emile Bernard wrote about the funeral:[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
"The coffin was already closed. I arrived too late to see the man again who had left me four years ago so full of expectations of all kinds…"[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b]Gauguin wrote in a letter to Theo[/b][br /]
[br /]
[br /]
"Vincent and I can absolutely not live together without turmoil, because of our incompatible characters, and both he and I need quietness for our work."[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b]His sister Elisabeth wrote about Vincent[/b][br /]
[br /]
[br /]
"Vincent’s brothers and sisters felt instinctively, with the delicate sensitiveness of children, that their brother preferred to be alone. If he had a vacation from boarding-school, he sought not their companionship, but, rather solitude."[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
Vincent, on being interrogated by the police after shooting himself[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
"What I have done is nobody’s business. I am free to do what I like with my own body."[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
Vincent, in one of his letters to his mother when his nephew was born [br /]
[br /]
[br /]
"I imaging that, like me, your thoughts are much with Jo and Theo: how glad I was when the News came that it had ended well: I should have greatly preferred him to call the boy after Father, of whom I have been thinking so much these days, instead of after me; but seeing it has now been done, I started right away making a picture for him, to hang in the bedroom, big branches of white almond blossom against a blue sky."[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b]Encyclopedia Britannica says about the artist[/b][br /]
[br /]
[br /]
" His work, all of it produced during a period of only 10 years, hauntingly conveys through its striking color, coarse brushwork, and contoured forms the anguish of a mental illness that eventually resulted in suicide."[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b]In his memoirs Gauguin wrote regarding Vincent’s work[/b][br /]
[br /]
[br /]
"With all his yellow on violet, all his painting with complementary colors, which he did in an unsystematic way, he got no further than incomplete, soft, monotonous harmonies; the clarion call was lacking. I undertook the task of showing him the way…"[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b]Van Gogh to his brother Theo, July 21, 1882[/b][br /]
[br /]
[br /]
"Art is jealous, she doesn’t like taking second place and indisposition. Hence I shall humor her. ... What I want and have as my aim is infernally difficult to achieve, and yet I don’t think I am raising my sights too high. I want to do drawings that touch some people." [br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b]September 3, 1882[/b][br /]
[br /]
[br /]
"I said to myself while I was doing it: don’t let me leave before there is something of the autumnal evening in it, something mysterious, something important. However -- because this effect doesn’t last -- I had to paint quickly, putting the figures in all at once, with a few forceful strokes of a firm brush. It had struck me how firmly the saplings were planted in the ground -- I started on them with the brush, but because the ground was already impasted, brush strokes simply vanished into it. Then I squeezed roots and trunks in from the tube and modeled them a little with the brush.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
In a way I am glad that I never learned painting. In all probability I would then have learned to ignore such effects as this. Now I can say to myself, this is just what I want. If it is impossible, it is impossible, but I’m going to try it even though I don’t know how it ought to be done."[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b]October 22, 1882[/b][br /]
[br /]
[br /]
"What is drawing? How does one come to it? It is working through an invisible iron wall that seems to stand between what one feels and what one can do. How is one to get through that wall -- since pounding at it is of no use? In my opinion one has to undermine that wall, filing through it steadily and patiently."[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b]October 1884[/b][br /]
[br /]
[br /]
"You don’t know how paralyzing that is, that stare of a blank canvas, which says to the painter: you can’t do a thing ... Many painters are afraid in front of the blank canvas, but the blank canvas is afraid of the real, passionate painter who dares and who has broken the spell of you can’t once and for all."[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
"A gray woven from red, blue, yellow, off-white & black threads -- a blue broken by a green and an orange, red or yellow thread -- are quite unlike plain colors, that is, they are more vibrant, and primary colors seem hard, cold and lifeless beside them."[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b]July 1885[/b][br /]
[br /]
[br /]
"... a Parisian who has learned his drawing at the academy, will always convey the limbs and the structure of the body in the same way -- sometimes charming, accurate in proportion and anatomical detail. But when Israëls, or say, Daumier or Lhermitte, draw a figure, one gets much more of a sense of the shape of the body, and yet -- and that’s the very reason I’m pleased to include Daumier - the proportions will sometimes be almost arbitrary, the anatomy and structure often anything but correct in the eyes of the academicians. But it will live. And Delacroix too, in particular."[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
"... if one were to photograph a digger, he would certainly not be digging then. ... I long most of all to learn how to produce those very inaccuracies, those very aberrations, reworkings, transformations of reality, as may turn it into, well -- a lie if you like -- but truer than the literal truth."[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b]September 3, 1888[/b][br /]
[br /]
[br /]
"...Suffering as I am, I cannot do without something greater than myself, something which is my life -- the power to create.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
And if, deprived of the physical power, one tries to create thoughts instead of children, one is still very much part of humanity. And in my pictures I want to say something consoling, as music does. I want to paint men and women with a touch of the eternal, whose symbol was once the halo, which we try to convey by the very radiance and vibrancy of our coloring."[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b]About his mother Vincent wrote to Theo[/b][br /]
[br /]
[br /]
"I am working on a portrait of Mother, because the black-and-white photograph annoys me so. Ah, what portraits could be made from nature with photography and painting! I always hope that we are still to have a great revolution in portraiture."[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
Vincent’s long time friend, the painter Emile Bernard wrote about the funeral:[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
"The coffin was already closed. I arrived too late to see the man again who had left me four years ago so full of expectations of all kinds…"[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b]Gauguin wrote in a letter to Theo[/b][br /]
[br /]
[br /]
"Vincent and I can absolutely not live together without turmoil, because of our incompatible characters, and both he and I need quietness for our work."[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b]His sister Elisabeth wrote about Vincent[/b][br /]
[br /]
[br /]
"Vincent’s brothers and sisters felt instinctively, with the delicate sensitiveness of children, that their brother preferred to be alone. If he had a vacation from boarding-school, he sought not their companionship, but, rather solitude."[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
Vincent, on being interrogated by the police after shooting himself[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
"What I have done is nobody’s business. I am free to do what I like with my own body."[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
Vincent, in one of his letters to his mother when his nephew was born [br /]
[br /]
[br /]
"I imaging that, like me, your thoughts are much with Jo and Theo: how glad I was when the News came that it had ended well: I should have greatly preferred him to call the boy after Father, of whom I have been thinking so much these days, instead of after me; but seeing it has now been done, I started right away making a picture for him, to hang in the bedroom, big branches of white almond blossom against a blue sky."[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b]Encyclopedia Britannica says about the artist[/b][br /]
[br /]
[br /]
" His work, all of it produced during a period of only 10 years, hauntingly conveys through its striking color, coarse brushwork, and contoured forms the anguish of a mental illness that eventually resulted in suicide."[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b]In his memoirs Gauguin wrote regarding Vincent’s work[/b][br /]
[br /]
[br /]
"With all his yellow on violet, all his painting with complementary colors, which he did in an unsystematic way, he got no further than incomplete, soft, monotonous harmonies; the clarion call was lacking. I undertook the task of showing him the way…"[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b]Meeting with Pissario[/b][br /]
[br /]
[br /]
The 19th century saw the birth of Impressionism with a group of individuals who later became the masters of Impressionism to the present world. This group included Claude Monet, Auguste Renoir, Camille Pissarro and Edgar Degas.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
Shortly after Vincent’s arrival in Paris, Theo introduced him to Pissarro. Vincent van Gogh had great respect for the latter’s judgment. In one incident, Vincent stopped his mentor right in the middle of a crowded street and insisted on showing him his latest canvases. Pissarro had later commented that he felt that Vincent would either go mad or leave the Impressionists far behind. Little did he know that he would hold true on both counts.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b]Meeting with Anton Mauve[/b][br /]
[br /]
[br /]
In November 1881, Vincent met Anton Mauve who was married to one of his cousins. A leading member of The Hague School, he was impressed by Vincent’s works and had invited him to work in his studio. When Mauve looked critically at Vincent’s first attempt at still life he had remarked that he always thought that Vincent was rather dull but now he knew that that was not true. Though Vincent’s relationship with Mauve was extremely valuable, it was a turbulent one. Mauve also disapproved his relationship with Sein, the prostitute.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
Anton Mauve played an important role in the formation of Vincent’s career as an artist. Upon his death in 1888, Vincent immediately began painting a work in his honor.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b] Association with Paul Gauguin[/b][br /]
[br /]
[br /]
One of the major events in Vincent van Gogh’s life was his association with a fellow artist Paul Gauguin. He had long desired to set up an artists’ colony and he wanted Paul to be the first to join. He had even agreed to pay his fare to Arles. The two months that followed proved to be pivotal and disastrous for both artists. The initial period of their association resulted in their getting on well together, often painting outdoors, discussing painting techniques. Due to the deteriorating weather they were compelled to stay indoors and reached a crescendo.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
Vincent’s self control and his state of mental health soon snapped and on December 23, he threatened Gauguin with a razor. Gauguin escaped but, later in the night Vincent cut off his right earlobe and after wrapping it in a cloth took it to a brothel and gave it to a prostitute. Suffering from hallucinations and blood loss, he was taken to the Arles hospital. Gauguin left Arles, never to see Vincent again. Whether Paul Gauguin was a friend, a colleague, a rival or a threat or these put together, his role in Vincent’s life cannot be overlooked.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b]Vincent and Dr. Paul Gachet[/b][br /]
[br /]
[br /]
Vincent settled down in a quiet destination, Auvers-sur-Oise. Here, he met Dr. Gachet shortly after his arrival. The doctor was a good supporter of artists and the Impressionist movement. He himself was an amateur painter. Vincent had struck up a good relationship with him. In Auvers it seemed Vincent found peace and tranquility.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
He immortalized the doctor in his painting The Portrait of Dr Gachet. This painting was later sold at a Christie’s auction for a whopping $82.5 million, the highest ever for a painting. [br /]
[br /]
[br /]
Nobody had any indication of the impending doom that was soon to follow. In one of the letters to brother Theo, Vincent described Dr Gachet as a person who was sicker than he was. Several questions arise regarding Dr Gachet. How could Vincent’s suicidal behavior escape the doctor’s eye? Also what did Vincent mean by describing the doctor as sicker than he was.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b]Death of Vincent van Gogh[/b][br /]
[br /]
[br /]
"The sadness will last forever…"[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
Vincent had visited Theo and his family on July 6, 1890, by catching an early train. However, he was overwhelmed by the journey and quickly returned to Auvers. Theo’s son, young Vincent had been sick and almost on the verge of dying. Vincent was probably devastated at the state of his brother’s condition. Vincent must have regarded himself a burden to Theo and his family and for being responsible for their financial state and troubles. However, his behavior did not give any indication of his mental turmoil. During the next three weeks, Vincent resumed painting and was calm. However on July 27, 1890, Vincent set out with his easel and painting materials, for the fields. There he took a revolver and shot himself in the chest.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
But he did not die immediately. Such was the strength of the man that he managed to get back to the place where he stayed and collapsed. He was later discovered. Dr. Mazery, the local practitioner was called in along with Dr Gachet. It was decided not to remove the bullet. Gachet sent for Theo. He was at his brother’s bedside and was consoling him that he would get better. But Vincent then said, "sadness will last forever."[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
Theo, his greatest friend and supporter was holding his hand when Vincent said his last words, "I wish I could pass away like this." He died at 1:30 am on July 29, 1890. The Catholic church of Auvers did not allow the burial in its cemetery because Vincent had committed suicide. The nearby town of Mery, allowed the burial on July 30.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
The 19th century saw the birth of Impressionism with a group of individuals who later became the masters of Impressionism to the present world. This group included Claude Monet, Auguste Renoir, Camille Pissarro and Edgar Degas.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
Shortly after Vincent’s arrival in Paris, Theo introduced him to Pissarro. Vincent van Gogh had great respect for the latter’s judgment. In one incident, Vincent stopped his mentor right in the middle of a crowded street and insisted on showing him his latest canvases. Pissarro had later commented that he felt that Vincent would either go mad or leave the Impressionists far behind. Little did he know that he would hold true on both counts.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b]Meeting with Anton Mauve[/b][br /]
[br /]
[br /]
In November 1881, Vincent met Anton Mauve who was married to one of his cousins. A leading member of The Hague School, he was impressed by Vincent’s works and had invited him to work in his studio. When Mauve looked critically at Vincent’s first attempt at still life he had remarked that he always thought that Vincent was rather dull but now he knew that that was not true. Though Vincent’s relationship with Mauve was extremely valuable, it was a turbulent one. Mauve also disapproved his relationship with Sein, the prostitute.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
Anton Mauve played an important role in the formation of Vincent’s career as an artist. Upon his death in 1888, Vincent immediately began painting a work in his honor.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b] Association with Paul Gauguin[/b][br /]
[br /]
[br /]
One of the major events in Vincent van Gogh’s life was his association with a fellow artist Paul Gauguin. He had long desired to set up an artists’ colony and he wanted Paul to be the first to join. He had even agreed to pay his fare to Arles. The two months that followed proved to be pivotal and disastrous for both artists. The initial period of their association resulted in their getting on well together, often painting outdoors, discussing painting techniques. Due to the deteriorating weather they were compelled to stay indoors and reached a crescendo.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
Vincent’s self control and his state of mental health soon snapped and on December 23, he threatened Gauguin with a razor. Gauguin escaped but, later in the night Vincent cut off his right earlobe and after wrapping it in a cloth took it to a brothel and gave it to a prostitute. Suffering from hallucinations and blood loss, he was taken to the Arles hospital. Gauguin left Arles, never to see Vincent again. Whether Paul Gauguin was a friend, a colleague, a rival or a threat or these put together, his role in Vincent’s life cannot be overlooked.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b]Vincent and Dr. Paul Gachet[/b][br /]
[br /]
[br /]
Vincent settled down in a quiet destination, Auvers-sur-Oise. Here, he met Dr. Gachet shortly after his arrival. The doctor was a good supporter of artists and the Impressionist movement. He himself was an amateur painter. Vincent had struck up a good relationship with him. In Auvers it seemed Vincent found peace and tranquility.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
He immortalized the doctor in his painting The Portrait of Dr Gachet. This painting was later sold at a Christie’s auction for a whopping $82.5 million, the highest ever for a painting. [br /]
[br /]
[br /]
Nobody had any indication of the impending doom that was soon to follow. In one of the letters to brother Theo, Vincent described Dr Gachet as a person who was sicker than he was. Several questions arise regarding Dr Gachet. How could Vincent’s suicidal behavior escape the doctor’s eye? Also what did Vincent mean by describing the doctor as sicker than he was.[br /]
[br /]
[br /]
[b]Death of Vincent van Gogh[/b][br /]
[br /]
[br /]
"The sadness will last forever…"[br /]
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Vincent had visited Theo and his family on July 6, 1890, by catching an early train. However, he was overwhelmed by the journey and quickly returned to Auvers. Theo’s son, young Vincent had been sick and almost on the verge of dying. Vincent was probably devastated at the state of his brother’s condition. Vincent must have regarded himself a burden to Theo and his family and for being responsible for their financial state and troubles. However, his behavior did not give any indication of his mental turmoil. During the next three weeks, Vincent resumed painting and was calm. However on July 27, 1890, Vincent set out with his easel and painting materials, for the fields. There he took a revolver and shot himself in the chest.[br /]
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But he did not die immediately. Such was the strength of the man that he managed to get back to the place where he stayed and collapsed. He was later discovered. Dr. Mazery, the local practitioner was called in along with Dr Gachet. It was decided not to remove the bullet. Gachet sent for Theo. He was at his brother’s bedside and was consoling him that he would get better. But Vincent then said, "sadness will last forever."[br /]
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Theo, his greatest friend and supporter was holding his hand when Vincent said his last words, "I wish I could pass away like this." He died at 1:30 am on July 29, 1890. The Catholic church of Auvers did not allow the burial in its cemetery because Vincent had committed suicide. The nearby town of Mery, allowed the burial on July 30.[br /]
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