Vincent Van Gogh

EARLY LIFE

• Vincent van Gogh was born on March 30, 1853, in Groot-Zundert, Netherlands
• His father Theodorus van Gogh was a austere country minister
• His mother was a Anna Cornelia Carbentus, was a moody artist
• He was named Vincent after his oldest brother that died at a young age
• At age 15, van Gogh's family was struggling financially, and he was forced to leave school and go to work

Early Life Cont.

• He got a job at his Uncle Cornelis' art dealership, Goupil & Cie., a firm of art dealers in The Hague
• van Gogh was fluent in French, German and English, as well as his native Dutch
• In June of 1873, van Gogh was transferred to the Groupil Gallery in London
• There he fell in love with his landlady's daughter, Eugenie Loyer
• When she rejected his marriage proposal, van Gogh suffered a breakdown

Life cont.

• He became angry with people at work, telling customers not to buy the "worthless art," and was eventually fired
• raised in a religious family, it wasn't until this time that he seriously began to consider devoting his life to the church
• He prepared to take the entrance exam to the School of Theology in Amsterdam
• He was rejected after refusing to take the latin exams 

Life cont.

• In the fall of 1880, van Gogh decided to move to Brussels and become an artist
• Even with no formal art training his younger brother Theo supported him financially
• He started teaching himself studying books like Travaux des champs by Jean-François Millet 

Love life

• Van Gogh had a catastrophic love life. He was attracted to women in trouble, thinking he could help them
• His cousin, Kate, was recently widowed, and when van Gogh fell in love with her
• She was repulsed and fled to her home in Amsterdam
• He then moved to The Hague and fell in love with Clasina Maria Hoornik, an alcoholic prostitute
• She became his companion, mistress and model.

Love life cont.

• When Hoornik went back to prostitution, van Gogh became very depressed
• is family threatened to cut off his money unless he left Hoornik and The Hague
• Van Gogh left in mid-September of that year to travel to Drenthe
• For the next 6 weeks he traveled the land and started drawing and painting the landscape and its people

As an artist

• Van Gogh's art helped him stay emotionally balanced
• In 1885, he began work on what is considered to be his first masterpiece, "Potato Eaters."
• In Paris, van Gogh first saw impressionist art, and he was inspired by the color and light

Later life

• He spent his money on paint rather than food.
• Before long, it became apparent that in addition to suffering from physical illness
• Theo was worried, and offered Paul Gauguin money to go watch over van Gogh in Arles
• Within a month, van Gogh and Gauguin were arguing constantly
• Van Gogh cut off his ear with a razor during their argument  

Later life and death

• Hours later, van Gogh went to the local brothel and paid for a prostitute named Rachel
• He offered her his ear, asking her to "keep this object carefully."
• On July 27, 1890, van Gogh went out to paint in the morning as usual, but he carried a loaded pistol
• He shot himself in the chest, but the bullet did not kill him. He was found bleeding in his room
• Van Gogh was taken to a nearby hospital and his doctors sent for Theo

death cont.

Artwork

The Starry Night

The Starry Night

• Painted in June 1889, it depicts the view outside of his sanatorium room window at Saint-Rémy-de-Provence
• Oil Painting 
• This painting marks a decisive turn towards greater imaginative freedom in his art
• This painting was painted from memory, during the day time 
• It has been in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, part of the Lillie P. Bliss Bequest, since 1941

The Red Vineyard

The Red VineYArd

• Painted in 1888
• The Red Vineyards near Arles is an oil painting
• It supposedly is the only piece sold by the artist while he was alive

Café Terrace at Night

Cafe Terrace at night

• Also known as The Cafe Terrace on the Place du Forum
• Oil painting 
• Arles, France, mid-September 1888
• The painting is not signed, but there is large pen drawing of the composition which originates from the artist's estate
• This is the first painting in which he used starry backgrounds

Starry Night Over the Rhone

Starry night over the rhone

• Starry Night Over the Rhone (September 1888) is one of Vincent van Gogh's paintings of Arles at night time
•  It was painted at a spot on the bank of the Rhone River that was only a one or two-minute walk from the Yellow House
• The night sky and the effects of light at night provided the subject for some of his more famous paintings
• The painting was first exhibited in 1889 at the annual exhibition of the Société des Artistes Indépendants in Paris, together with the Irises

The Potato Eaters

The Potato Eaters

• Painted in April 1885 in Nuenen, Netherlands
• 3 Versions. 1) oil painting 2) Sketch 3) lithograph
• It is in the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam
• He also made a version as a lithograph

At Eternity's Gate

At Eternity's gate

• Sorrowing Old Man ('At Eternity's Gate') made in 1890 in Saint-Rémy de Provence
• This oil painting was based on an early lithograph
• The painting was completed in early May at a time when he was convalescing from a severe relapse in his health
• The lithograph was based on a pencil drawing Worn Out, one of a series of studies he made in 1882 of a pensioner and war veteran
• This painting was painted two months before his death