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Vincent Willem van Gogh (Dutch: [ˈvɪnsɛnt ˈʋɪləɱ‿vɑŋ‿ˈɣɔx] ⓘ; 30 March 1853 – 29 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who is among the most famous and influential figures in the history of Western art.
- Vincent Willem van Gogh, 30 March 1853, Zundert, Netherlands
- 29 July 1890 (aged 37), Auvers-sur-Oise, France
- Overview
- Early life
Vincent van Gogh was a Dutch painter, generally considered to be the greatest after Rembrandt van Rijn, and one of the greatest of the Post-Impressionists. He sold only one artwork during his life, but in the century after his death he became perhaps the most recognized painter of all time.
What did Vincent van Gogh accomplish?
During his 10-year artistic career, Vincent van Gogh created a vivid personal style, noted for its striking colour, emphatic brushwork, and contoured forms. His achievement is all the more remarkable for the brevity of his career and considering the poverty and mental illness that dogged him.
What were Vincent van Gogh’s jobs?
Vincent van Gogh’s career as an artist was extremely short, lasting only the 10 years from 1880 to 1890. Before that he had various occupations, including art dealer, language teacher, lay preacher, bookseller, and missionary worker.
How was Vincent van Gogh influential?
Van Gogh, the eldest of six children of a Protestant pastor, was born and reared in a small village in the Brabant region of the southern Netherlands. He was a quiet, self-contained youth, spending his free time wandering the countryside to observe nature. At 16 he was apprenticed to The Hague branch of the art dealers Goupil and Co., of which his uncle was a partner.
Van Gogh worked for Goupil in London from 1873 to May 1875 and in Paris from that date until April 1876. Daily contact with works of art aroused his artistic sensibility, and he soon formed a taste for Rembrandt, Frans Hals, and other Dutch masters, although his preference was for two contemporary French painters, Jean-François Millet and Camille Corot, whose influence was to last throughout his life. Van Gogh disliked art dealing. Moreover, his approach to life darkened when his love was rejected by a London girl in 1874. His burning desire for human affection thwarted, he became increasingly solitary. He worked as a language teacher and lay preacher in England and, in 1877, worked for a bookseller in Dordrecht, Netherlands. Impelled by a longing to serve humanity, he envisaged entering the ministry and took up theology; however, he abandoned this project in 1878 for short-term training as an evangelist in Brussels. A conflict with authority ensued when he disputed the orthodox doctrinal approach. Failing to get an appointment after three months, he left to do missionary work among the impoverished population of the Borinage, a coal-mining region in southwestern Belgium. There, in the winter of 1879–80, he experienced the first great spiritual crisis of his life. Living among the poor, he gave away all his worldly goods in an impassioned moment; he was thereupon dismissed by church authorities for a too-literal interpretation of Christian teaching.
Penniless and feeling that his faith was destroyed, he sank into despair and withdrew from everyone. “They think I’m a madman,” he told an acquaintance, “because I wanted to be a true Christian. They turned me out like a dog, saying that I was causing a scandal.” It was then that van Gogh began to draw seriously, thereby discovering in 1880 his true vocation as an artist. Van Gogh decided that his mission from then on would be to bring consolation to humanity through art. “I want to give the wretched a brotherly message,” he explained to his brother Theo. “When I sign [my paintings] ‘Vincent,’ it is as one of them.” This realization of his creative powers restored his self-confidence.
Britannica Quiz
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Apr 3, 2014 · Learn about the life and art of Vincent van Gogh, one of the world's greatest post-Impressionist painters. Explore his early life, family, education, mental health, love life, artistic influences and achievements. Discover his famous paintings such as 'Starry Night' and 'Sunflowers', and his quotes on art and life.
Learn about the life and career of Vincent van Gogh, one of the most influential artists of modern art. Explore his paintings, drawings, and letters from his Dutch, Belgian, and French periods.
Explore the life, letters, paintings and drawings of the famous Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890). Discover his self-portraits, landscapes, flowers, stories and more at the Van Gogh Museum website.
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Learn about the life and art of Vincent van Gogh, one of the most influential and iconic artists of all time. Explore his post-impressionist and neo-impressionist style, his use of color and brushstrokes, and his emotional and spiritual themes.
Learn about the life and art of Vincent van Gogh, the Dutch painter of color and expression, from his early studies of rural workers to his final masterpieces of the sky and the landscape. Explore his works, audio, publications, and exhibitions at MoMA and beyond.
