Vincent Van Gogh

WHO IS HE?

• He was a renowned artist in the 19th century
• He created many pieces in his lifetime

EARLY LIFE

• Born in Groot-Zundert, Holland
• Suffered from severe mental insanity growing up
• Not much else is known about his childhood

ABOUT HIM

• Very emotional
• Lacked self-confidence
• Hard to work with
• Nervous sort of person

FAMILY

• Father was a pastor of protestant church
• 3 sisters and 2 brothers
• Family doubted his ability except for one brother who supported him

BEFORE ART

• Had 2 unhappy relationships
• Worked unsuccessfully as a clerk, art salesman, and preacher
• Dismissed from his job as a preacher because he was "overzealous"

HOW IT STARTED

• Got his first job at age 16 in an art gallery
• Did multiple other jobs before randomly going into art
• With his brother's support, he went into art

WHY

• Went into art so he could leave something important behind for mankind
• Wanted to create happiness with the beauty of art

MENTAL INSANITY

• Threatened his friend with a knife causing him to leave the city
• Mutilated his ear with a knife and was hospitilized
• His insanity shows in some of his later pieces
• When in the asylum, his paintings had a shaken look to them

AFTERWARDS

• Left Saint-Rémy-de-Provence in 1890
• Began contacting his brother, Theo
• Worked very hard and created a painting nearly every day

HOW IT ENED

• Viewed his life as "horribly wasted, personally failed, and impossible"
• Attempted suicide on July 27, 1890 by shooting himself in the chest
• The attempt failed, but he died two days later from the wound

LATER YEARS

• Moved back in with his parents at age 27 and taught himself to draw
• He went through many ups and downs in his art career
• Showing signs of mental illness towards the end of 1888
• Checked himself into an asylum where he painted Starry Night

TODAY

• A lot of his paintings became famous after his death
• His paintings have sold up to $719 million
• Artwork still popular today