Tragic Life Of Vincent Van Gogh

Who is not familiar with Vincent Van Gogh, the great creator of a masterpiece like “The starry night”. Vincent Van Gogh is one of the most recognized names in the world of art and he is always remembered as a revolutionary and incredible painter. Van Gogh’s renown artworks are admired world wide for the uniqueness. His work is on display in world-class museums. Van Gogh is considered the most influential painter of all time. His bold Colored, dramatic and unusual brushstrokes change the whole view of impressionism and his work will serve as road map for the modern art. When you look at the immense popularity of Van Gogh then you should know that Van Gogh was one of those painters who got recognition for his artwork after his death and wasn’t commercially successful in his lifetime. Let’s take a quick look on his life to know more about him. He was born in a small village in the Brabant region of the southern Netherlands. Vincent Van Gogh was the eldest of the six children of a protestant Pastor. But he wasn’t the first child of his parents. One year before his birth his mother gave birth to a stillborn child. After one year Vincent Van Gogh born and he got the same name as his dead brother and at a young age his name and birthdate already etched on his dead brother headstone leaving Van Gogh in Melancholy. He had two younger brothers named Theo and Cor. He also had three younger sisters named Anna, Elizabeth and Willemien. Van Gogh was a quite and self contained child in his youth who used to spent most of his time wandering in the country side to observe the beauty of nature. His mother Anna Cornelia Carbentus was a moody artist and her love of nature, drawing and watercolors was transferred to her son. At the age of 15 Van Gogh’s family struggle financially and he was forced to leave school and go to work. He got a job at his uncle’s art dealership firm that is art dealer firm in The Hague. He became fluent in French, German and English. Later in 1973 he was transferred to the Groupil Gallery in London. There he fell in love with English literature. He used to visit art galleries in his free time. He is a great fan of the writings of Charles Dickens and George Eliot. At the peak of his youth he fell in love with the daughter of his landlady. But when she rejected him he become heart broken and suffered from break down. Failed to handle the rejection and heartbreak he threw all his books except for holy bible and devoted himself to God. He became angry and frustrated person with the people at work and told customers not to buy the worthless art. He was eventually fired for his anger issues. After that he taught in a Methodist School and also preached to the congregation. Although his family was religious but he devoted his life to church seriously at that point of his life. He wanted to become a minister and for that he prepared to take the entrance exam to the school of theology in Amsterdam. But after a year of studying he refused to take the Latin Exam and call Latin a dead language for poor people. He was denied entrance due to his behavior. In the winter of 1878, Van Gogh volunteered to move to an impoverished coal mine in the south of Belgium, A place where preachers were usually sent as punishment. He used to preach there and also ministered to the sick. He drew pictures of the miners and their family, who called him “ Christ of the Coal Mines”. But evangelical committees weren’t pleased with Van Gogh’s popularity and his life style. They refused to renew van Gogh’s contract and he was forced to find other occupation and leave from there. Then in 1880 he finally become serious about art and move to Brussels to become an artist. Though he had no formal art training but he still was a good painter. His brother Theo van Gogh offered to support him financially and handle the deals with art dealers. He began taking lesson on his own and studied books over the topic of art. His art kept him emotionally balanced. In 1885 he began working on what considered being his masterpiece known as “ Potato Easter”. That painting was depicting the working class exploitation. Theo, who was living in Paris at that time, believed that this painting would not be well received in the French capital where impressionism had become a trend. Nevertheless, Van Gogh decided to move to Paris and showed up at Theo’s house uninvited but his brother welcome him in his apartment. In Paris, he witnessed impressionist art and he got inspired by the color and light. He began studying with Henri De Toulouse, Camilla Pissarro and others. He and his friends posed for each other instead of hiring model to save money. Vincent Van Gogh was very passionate about painting and he argued with other painters about their work and that make him alienated in his own friend group and they became tired of his bickering. He painted a large number of self-portraits in this period. His love life was complex. He attracted towards women in trouble thinking that he could help them. He feel in love with his recently widowed cousin Named Kate. She repulsed and fled back to her home in Amsterdam. After moving into Hague he feel in love with Clasina Maria Hoornik, an alcoholic prostitute. She became his model, mistress and companion. She left him and went back to prostitution. Van Gogh became utterly depressed till a point that his family threatened him to cut off his money unless he left hoornik and The Hague. He then moved to Drenthe, a desolate district in Netherlands. For the next six weeks, He lived a nomadic life, moving throughout the region while drawing and painting the landscape and people. Van Gogh was influenced by Japanese art and began studying eastern philosophy to enhance his art. He wanted to travel there but he was told by Toulouse –Lautrec that light in Arles village is just like the light in japan. In 1888, van Gogh moved to the Provence in Southern France, where he painted his famous series of Sunflowers. He used to spend his money on art rather then healthy food. While living on bread and coffee in Arles, he found himself Feeling sick and strange. His psychological health was declining. He is known to have sipped on Turpentine and eaten paint. Theo was worried for his brother and he give money to Van Gogh’s friend Gauguin to go and watch over him in Arles. But within a month Van Gogh and Gauguin were arguing constantly. One night they start fighting each other and the argument become rough. Gauguin walked out and when he returned, Van Gogh threatened him with a sharp razor. He cut off his ear that night accidently. Later he paid for a prostitute named Rachel in Brothel and went there with blood pouring from his hand and ear. He gave her his ear and told her to “ keep this object carefully ”. The police found him next morning and admit him to the hospital. Theo arrived on Christmas to see his brother who was weak from blood loss and having violent seizures. His brother take care of him and he released from hospital on January 7,1889. He was return to his depressed self and he devoted himself to nature and painting. He was hospitalized again and he used to paint in his yellow house during day and return to hospital at night. He decided to move to the Saint-Paul-de-Mausole asylum in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence after people of Arles signed a petition against him and declaring him a dangerous person. He began painting hospital’s gardens in May 1889. There he painted his iconic starry night. In November 1889 he was invited to exhibit his paintings in Brussels. He sent six paintings including the masterpieces such as Irises and Starry night. After that Dr. Paul Gachet decided to take Van Gogh as his patient and he moved to Anvers and rent a room. On July 27, 1980 he went out to paint in the morning with a loaded pistol and he shot himself in chest. The bullet didn’t kill him. He was found bleeding in his room. The incident happened because Van Gogh was heart broken because Theo came to visit him and told him that he need to be stricter with his finances. Van Gogh distraught about his future because he took that to mean Theo was no longer interested in selling his art. Theo came to meet him when he was sent to hospital after shooting himself. Van Gogh asked his brother to take him home. On July 29, 1890 Vincent van Gogh died in the arms of his Brother Theo who was the only person who supported him throughout his career. He was only 37 years old when he died. His brother Theo died after 6 months of his death due to Syphilis. Theo ‘s wife Johanna collected as many of van Gogh’s paintings as she could but discovered that many of them had been destroyed or lost because Van Gogh’s mother threw Crates of his art works away. On March 17, 1902, 71 paintings from Van Gogh were displayed at the show in Paris his fame grew enormously. His mother lived long enough to see his son being appreciated as an art genius. Over the course of 10 years Van Gogh created over 43 self-portraits as both paintings and drawings. He was extremely focused and passionate about his art and he put his heart in it. Van Gogh wasn’t given a chance to see how influential and genius he was in art in his life but his art will lives on to the next generations and carry on his legacy.