Van Gogh biography. Why is the artist Vincent Van Gogh famous? Further education: boarding school
A skinny kitten awkwardly climbs up the curved trunk of an apple tree. The fear of falling through the cracks drives him higher and higher. Yesterday Vincent watched the fool in the garden, and today he brought and placed a sheet of paper on his mother’s lap - his first drawing. The mother is a little surprised: her eldest son, a reserved and unsociable boy, opened his world to her for the first time. Once Vincent already tried to sculpt an elephant out of clay, but, noticing that he was being watched, he crushed it in his fist. The boy recently turned eight years old. Years will pass, and they will start talking about him as an eccentric, and only after decades - as a real artist.
Family, childhood
Vincent Van Gogh was born into a pastor's family in the small village of Groot-Zundert. His father belonged to a famous Dutch family and even boasted a family coat of arms - a branch with three roses. For a long time, representatives of the venerable Van Gogh family occupied prominent positions, lived in prosperity and enjoyed excellent health. However, Vincent's father Theodore Van Gogh did not inherit all this. Endowed with a good disposition, this simple man performed the duties of a priest with the accuracy of a clerk, and his parishioners called him “the glorious pastor.” The mediocrity of his philistine life will be disturbed only twenty years after the birth of his eldest son Vincent, when a constant fear for the unlucky unfortunate artist settles in his soul.
Vincent's mother Anna Cornelia Carbentus, from a respectable family of a court bookbinder, was an impulsive woman with a restless character. She was often harsh with her children, even in everyday affairs she showed the stubbornness of a spoiled girl.
Unexpected outbursts of anger and fits of rage in still little Vincent testified to severe heredity. Of the pastor’s six children, only he was distinguished by gloominess, he liked to walk alone, and was silent for a long time. He didn’t look much like a child at all: a squat and awkward figure, a sloping forehead, thick eyebrows and an unchildish gloomy look.
The formation of the boy’s psyche could not but be influenced by the strange, almost mystical circumstance associated with his birth. Vincent was not the first-born of his parents. Exactly a year before his birth, to the same day, Anna Cornelia gave birth to a boy. The baby was named Vincent, which means “winner.” But he lived only six weeks. The pain of the loss softened only when Anna became pregnant again. On March 30, 1853, she gave birth to a boy. In memory of his first-born, he was named Vincent Willem. This story could have become a family secret, but little Vincent knew it from his parents. And the baby was often seen in the cemetery where his older brother was buried.
Lonely walks awakened Vincent's keen powers of observation. He looked at plants, studied insects, collected herbariums and tin boxes with spider beetles.
In a large family, the pastor loved and spoiled the stubborn and wayward eldest. His brothers and sisters were a little afraid of him, although the little savage was not malicious or arrogant. Vincent developed a real, inquisitive and active friendship only with his younger brother Theo.
Seller of Van Gogh paintings
When Vincent was sixteen years old, the venerable pastor convened a family council - it was necessary to determine the future of his son. Uncle Saint, who ran an art gallery in The Hague, promised his nephew his patronage and gave recommendations to Mr. Tersteech, director of the Hague branch of the Parisian company Goupil.
The relatives were pleased: Vincent was built no worse than others, he would gain experience, and he would become an exemplary employee. Needless to say, the young art seller did not strive for this at all. When talking with clients, he did not try to please them, entered into impudent arguments about art, and sometimes muttered something angrily under his breath. But this eccentric newcomer strangely attracted buyers, he fascinated with his deep interest in the “product” - paintings. Plunging into the world of painting, Vincent enthusiastically tried to understand it and learn as much as possible. He devoted every Sunday to museums. Four years later, Vincent was promoted to the London branch.
Van Gogh imagined the English capital only from the novels of Dickens, which he read with rapture. Arriving in London, he immediately bought himself a top hat, knowing for sure that it was “impossible to conduct business” here without such an elegant headdress. Walking around the city, he tried to discern the characters of his favorite writer in the motley crowd, and in his imagination he painted pictures of ingenuous and serene English happiness. He so wanted to try on the role of a good-natured father of a large family!
Soon the young man, who was already twenty years old, fell in love for the first time. As often happens, the first pretty girl he came across was the daughter of his landlady. The timid and clumsy young man did not yet know the rules of the love game. But the coquette Ursula involved him in the game. Van Gogh hurried home from work as fast as he could to finally see her, and Ursula only graciously accepted his inept advances. He called his beloved “an angel with babies,” and she was only amused by this unprepossessing Dutchman, who also spoke poor English.
For many months, Vincent nurtured words of love in his soul, but when he admitted his feelings, he was shocked: Ursula laughed. She has been engaged for a long time, she is the bride of someone else. This rather banal story of first love inflicted a deep wound on a sincere and passionate young man. And, as is customary to write in biographies, it became a turning point in the fate of the future artist.
An eccentric in worn-out shoes
Fleeing from London, Van Gogh travels to Helfourth, where his parents now live. Locked in his room, Vincent finds himself alone with trouble, the collapse of bright plans and hopes. Was it here - in sad solitude, rejected by a woman - that he filled his first pipe? Even his most meticulous biographer could not say for sure. But since then, Van Gogh has been seen everywhere and almost always with a pipe in his mouth. He himself has repeatedly stated that tobacco has a calming effect on him.
After spending several days in voluntary confinement, Van Gogh was forced to return to work. But he lost all his enthusiasm. Fleeing from heavy thoughts, he began to attend Protestant and Anglican churches and sing psalms. It would seem that his life again became simple and reasonable. But the frantic Dutchman knew no limits in anything, and his initial blissful love for God grew into real religious ecstasy. The art seller hated his job and once even told his employers that “the art trade is just a form of organized robbery.” The dismissal that followed still surprised, even dumbfounded him. He again felt like an outcast, again deceived the expectations of his family. Angered by his behavior, Uncle Saint refused to help his hapless nephew.
But Van Gogh was already consumed by a new passion. To make amends to his father, he will follow in his footsteps! Having settled down as a clerk in a bookstore, he devolves books one after another and delves into the meaning of biblical stories. He strives to convey the Word of God to all those who suffer, wanders for a long time in poor neighborhoods, and makes drawings. He writes to Brother Theo: “I am drawn to everything biblical. I want to comfort the orphans. I believe that the profession of an artist or artist is good, but my father's profession is more pious. I would like to become like him."
But Van Gogh is not at all like his venerable father. He put on an old military jacket, cut himself some burlap wraps, pulled a leather miner's cap on his head, and put on wooden shoes. He makes his own shirts from wrapping paper. Vincent, in his quest, goes so far as to mortify his flesh, trying to accustom himself to deprivation. However, he is unable to give up the pipe, which has become his constant companion.
Religious zeal and a desire to help the poor lead him to the mining town of Paturage in the small Borinage region in southern Belgium. The residents - coal miners with their families - were amazed by this preacher, who did not even have permission for his mission: he could stop a person on the street to read him lines from the Holy Scriptures.
Many considered him crazy, the boys shouted after him: “Crazy!”, but gradually the Dutchman completely won the hearts of the coal miners - there was an attractive force in his tongue-tied speeches.
Word of Van Gogh's successful work reached the Evangelical Society, and Vincent was officially appointed preacher in Vaham, a small town near Paturage.
In between sermons, Vincent drew; his inner fire did not give him a moment of peace of mind. The future artist seemed to feel his destiny: “Since I have been living in the world, it seems to me that I am in prison. Everyone thinks I'm good for nothing. And yet I must do something. I feel like I have to do something that only I can do. But what is it? What? This is what I don’t know.”
Vincent pointed out to the workers the cruelty of the owners of the coal mines, and, infected with his rebellious ideas, they decided to go on strike. This is where Van Gogh's mission ended. The dismissal from the position of preacher was justified by a lack of eloquence.
Pastor Van Gogh left for Brussels on foot, collecting his belongings in a small scarf tied in a knot. And no insults came after him. The need to draw had been ripening in him for a long time, and now Vincent understood what field awaited him. An exhausted young man with facial features sharpened by hunger walked towards his true calling.
A daring student and a desperate worker
So the exiled preacher again turned into a student - Van Gogh spent hours drawing from life. And now the figures of people on paper, frozen at first, begin to come to life. Van Gogh copies Millet's "Hours of the Day" and "Field Works", as well as Bargh's "Charcoal Drawings", which were given to him by Tersteeg, his master at the time when he served in the Hague gallery. Overcoming the malaise caused by poverty and constant overexertion, Vincent works frantically.
“The peasant who sees me drawing the trunk of an old tree for an entire hour, without leaving my place, imagines that I am crazy and laughs at me,” he writes to his brother. “A young lady who turns her nose up at a simple worker in patched, dusty and sweat-smelling clothes, of course, cannot understand why a person would go to the fishermen of Heyst or the coal miners of Borinage, much less go down into the mine, and also concludes that I am crazy.” .
Van Gogh had heard this word addressed to him more than once. Those around him laugh at him, and he guesses what is causing this: in communication he is simply obnoxious, impudent, harsh, and does not accept compromises. His relationships with the artists who are friends of his brother Theo do not work out either. Most colleagues in the craft representing the academic direction find Van Gogh mediocre. And painting schools, drawing classes, where he tries to gain experience, teach him only how not to draw.
The family also does not support Vincent’s hobby; even his father and mother find his paintings very strange. In addition, he found himself in the position of a dependent, since he lives on the money that his younger brother sends him. It’s not easy to constantly feel judged by others, and the artist’s nerves are on edge. Having received another small sum from Theo, Van Gogh begins to be tormented by remorse, sending his brother long letters with excuses. He wants to prove to his family that he is a hard worker and works hard. But his drawings and canvases are not in demand and do not bring in money.
Van Gogh still cherishes the dream of coping with the obsession that takes possession of him when he picks up his brushes. “I will succeed. I will not become some extraordinary person, but, on the contrary, the most ordinary one!” - such thoughts take possession of him again when he falls in love with his cousin Kee, a young widow and mother of a four-year-old baby. Vincent wants to start a family and finally know the joy of serenity. He comes up with a strategic plan to win over Kee. But his courtship is more like an obsessive pursuit.
Unable to withstand the flow of expressions of love, Kee leaves for Amsterdam. Van Gogh begins to send her several letters a day - she returns them unopened. The silence of his beloved infuriates Vincent, this time he does not want to put up with refusal. He goes to her parents' house. But Kee does not want to go out to her persistent admirer. In desperation, Vincent grabs a burning lamp and puts his hand straight into the flame: he will hold it like that until it comes down to him. But the girl’s father blew out the fire and pushed the unfortunate man out the door.
Rumors spread about this love story, and those around him began to consider Van Gogh not only a gloomy eccentric and dependent, but also a libertine.
Heartbroken, Vincent found himself alone again, now he knew that the melancholy would never go away. Dispelling gloomy thoughts, he tries to start a new life - of course, in painting. He spends all his time drawing, trying to master the technique of watercolor. “Even if I fall ninety-nine times, the hundredth time I will rise again,” writes Vincent Theo and explains what painting means - he puts an end to his personal life.
Thirst for love
And so, when the artist decided that a curse was weighing on him and that he could not find a soul mate, he met Christina in a cafe. Still young, but already a faded woman, thin and pale, she was five months pregnant. He was very excited by her story: seduced by a scoundrel, the girl was forced to step on a slippery slope, and now, half drunk, she earned her living by prostitution.
But their relationship was more of a parody of family life. Vincent again acted contrary to public opinion, the principles of a respectable man in the street and, finally, common sense. He wanted love, and he decided to depict an idyll. He sheltered Sin - as Van Gogh called Christina - with her eldest child. Somehow making ends meet, he now supported his “household”. He rarely ate his fill and smoked a lot to drown out the feeling of hunger. Theo, of course, was not happy that he had a whole family on his neck. Vincent was pleased: now he had models - he drew Sin, her son and mother.
But the connection with Sin turned out to be fragile. Vincent seriously undermined his health, trying to pull his girlfriend out of the bottom, and meanwhile she deceived him and even secretly tried to get back into the brothel. As a result, Van Gogh simply fled from The Hague to the north of Holland in Drenthe, the region of the heathlands.
“Theo, when in the middle of the moorland I see a poor woman carrying or clutching a child to her breast, tears come to my eyes. I know that Sin is a bad woman, that I had every right to act as I did... and yet my soul breaks and my heart aches when I see a poor, sick and unhappy woman. How endlessly sad life is! And yet I cannot surrender to the power of sadness, I must find some way out, I must work. Sometimes the only thing that calms me down is the thought that trouble will not spare me either.”
Finding yourself in art
Vincent is thirty years old, he has been drawing for three years, and painting seriously for a year. Van Gogh's search for himself in art is invariably associated with wanderings. From Drenthe he will go to the Brabant town of Nuenen, where he works on the painting “The Potato Eaters” and a series of peasant portraits. Then he runs from this region of dull steppes to the flourishing city of Antwerp, the homeland of Rubens. Having ended up at the local School of Fine Arts, where teachers criticized and even ridiculed Van Gogh’s works, he learns for himself “how not to do it” and, by contradiction, becomes convinced that he is right. Vincent learns about the workshops of Paris, where students are given complete freedom, and the capital of the arts becomes his new dream.
Theo had already told Vincent about the Impressionists in letters. Then Van Gogh replied: “Here in Holland, it is difficult for us to understand what impressionism is. It’s cloudy outside, the fields are dotted with black blocks of earth, between which patches of snow lie, often days follow one after another when you see only fog and dirt, in the mornings and evenings - the crimson sun, raven, dry grass and withered rotting greenery, black groves and the branches of poplars and willows, rearing up against the gloomy sky, like barbed wire.”
Now Vincent wants to try his hand at impressionism and try on the brilliant metropolitan life. His arrival comes as a surprise even to Theo.
However, it was in Paris that Van Gogh, who always paints only from life, without resorting to fictional characters and abstract subjects, understands that his “palette will, in all likelihood, become even darker.”
Understanding the possibilities of color, he plunges headlong into his search. We can say that Van Gogh discovered painting. Now, when he sets out to paint a picture, his starting point is color.
In Paris
By 1886, impressionism had already entered its maturity. Twenty-three years have passed since Manet exhibited his Luncheon on the Grass at the Salon of Les Miserables, and more than ten have passed since 1874 - the first exhibition of the Impressionists. Many of the creators of the movement left Paris and their creative paths diverged. And although Van Gogh learned a lot from them, this painting of appearance, the play of chiaroscuro is very far from what he himself gravitates towards.
In Paris, the artist became addicted to absinthe. Now his diet consists of bread, cheese, a cloudy greenish liquid of extremely strong strength and an invariable pipe filled with the cheapest tobacco. Vincent has to live off Theo's money, his debt to his brother grows, and along with it, his nervous tension grows. Parisian life is too much for Van Gogh, and a new fantasy is born in his head, boiling with ideas. He dreams of creating a Southern workshop, imagining a kind of artel of painters, a brotherhood, and not that metropolitan circle of colleagues in the craft, where envy and rivalry reign.
The artist’s health has deteriorated again, Vincent feels that he has reached the limit of his moral and physical strength. The cloudy Parisian sky only aggravates his melancholy. In addition, with the first frost, he always falls into a depressive state - Vincent has a hard time surviving the winter. And then he remembers the town of Arles: his friend Toulouse-Lautrec told him that life there is inexpensive. This is very important for Vincent, because sometimes in desperation he takes his canvases to a junk dealer, who sells them as “used canvases.” Van Gogh invites Paul Gauguin to create the “workshop of the future,” as he himself called it.
In Arles
Vincent meets spring already in Arles. Under the rays of the burning southern sun, the gardens bloom and his talent is revealed. Van Gogh tirelessly paints orchards in bloom. A strong mistral interferes with him, but the artist continues to work, tying his easel to pegs driven into the ground. In a letter to his brother, he admits: “I waste countless amounts of canvas and paints, but I hope that this money will not go to waste.”
Alas, it is here, in his Southern workshop, that Van Gogh faces a disaster that he had long foreseen and predicted. His body, which has been working hard for the past few years, is failing. Or rather, his brain, inflamed by continuous excessive emotional intensity. Van Gogh does not know how to cope with his emotions; calmness and rationality are not characteristic of him at all. Having quarreled with Gauguin, Vincent tries to attack him with a razor, but fails. Then he cuts off his own ear, and, wrapping it in rags, takes it to the brothel and hands it to his friend Rachel. This story, which is always remembered in connection with the name of the artist, is the first alarming signal. It was followed by new very severe attacks of the disease.
When Vincent is discharged from the clinic, he is afraid to return home: Gauguin has left, their “yellow house” (as Van Gogh called the workshop) is empty. He is afraid to be left alone with himself, now he knows that he cannot rely on himself. The fear of repeated seizures settles in his soul.
However, a month after discharge, the artist was surprised to find that his creative powers were returning to him. He paints a portrait of his attending physician, Dr. Ray. The doctor treated his patient with sympathy, but he did not like the portrait at all. For eleven years, this canvas covered the hole in the chicken coop.
Vincent writes to his brother: “If there is no need to put me in the ward for violent people, then I am still fit to pay at least in goods what I consider as my debt.” The feverish state in which the artist works leads to a second seizure. When the delirium recedes and consciousness returns to Vincent, he realizes that his insanity is not an accident, that his place is in a psychiatric clinic. At least he can no longer live in sunny Arles: boys throw stones at his back shouting “Crazy!”, adults gossip about his madness.
Eighty residents of Arles signed a petition to the mayor demanding that the Dutchman be locked up. Van Gogh was placed in a ward for violent people, and his house was sealed. Vincent accepted his fate. For the sake of the peace of those around him, he wants to live in a mental asylum. And Theo sends him to the Saint-Paul monastery under the supervision of Doctor Peyron. Living side by side with crazy people is no fun.
The seizures recur, and Vincent begins to experience hallucinations of religious content. In the breaks that his illness gives him, he tries to keep up with the easel as much as possible. The catalogs contain about one hundred and fifty paintings and one hundred drawings written by the artist during the fifty-three weeks that he lived within the walls of the hospital. Countless paintings have been lost. Many died in the most ridiculous way due to the fault of their owners. Dr. Peyron's son used the paintings as rifle targets, and a local photographer scraped the paint off the canvases and painted on them himself.
Recent years
Over the course of a year at the clinic, they were unable to help Vincent cope with his illness, and they made no effort to do so: he was prescribed baths twice a week. The doctors couldn’t even make a diagnosis: schizophrenia, epilepsy, paranoia? The relatives decided that a healthy atmosphere and a benevolent environment would be more beneficial for Vincent than imprisonment in a monastery, resounding with the cries of the violently insane. And he goes to Paris - to his brother, daughter-in-law Johanna and their newborn son, named after him.
However, Van Gogh does not find refuge in his brother’s house; he does not fit into the framework of ordinary family life. Vincent is forced to settle near Paris in Auvers. Here he works “hard and fast,” and on Sundays he visits his brother, whose life also cannot be called prosperous. The child and wife are sick, Theo himself has reached the point of exhaustion. There is not always enough money even for the most necessary things. And after another visit to Paris, Vincent writes a strange note to his brother: “It seems to me that since everyone is a little nervous and also too busy, there is no need to fully clarify all the relationships. I was a little surprised that you seemed to want to rush things. How can I help, or rather, what can I do to make you happy with this? One way or another, I mentally shake your hands tightly again and, in spite of everything, I was glad to see you all. Don't doubt it."
Apparently, a careless reproach was thrown at Vincent: he is a burden to the family. The artist was already burdened by his debt to his brother and understood well that he owed him the opportunity to work. He was also aware of his helplessness. He can only help by ceasing to be a burden. Van Gogh tries to throw himself back into work, but his brushes fall out of his hands. And the artist decides to speed up the denouement, to “hurry up events.”
On July 27, 1890, Van Gogh, taking his easel, as usual, went to wander in the fields. When it began to get dark, he took out a pistol and shot himself straight in the chest. Bleeding, the artist came home and went to bed. Vincent asked the owners of the boarding house to send for his attending physician. Van Gogh told his friend Dr. Gachet about his failed suicide attempt. And he calmly asked to give him a pipe and tobacco. All night they were on duty at the artist's bedside, and he silently and calmly smoked his constant pipe - his faithful companion in all his ordeals.
P.S. Vincent Van Gogh died on July 29, 1890 at the age of thirty-seven. Shortly before this, Theo managed to sell one of his paintings - “Red Vineyard”. He did not have time to take care of the rest of Vincent’s numerous paintings. The shocked Theodore was overcome by a wave of madness. He outlived his brother by less than six months.
Born in Groote-Zundert, a village located in the south of Holland, on March 30, 1853. He was the first surviving child in the family (his older brother was stillborn). The artist's parents were Protestant pastor Theodore Van Gogh and his wife Cornelia. Subsequently, they had more children: a son and three daughters.
All the men in the Van Gogh family were traditionally either priests or art dealers (in addition to Father Vincent, some of his relatives also served in the church). Therefore, it was quite natural that in 1869, before finishing school, Vincent found himself an employee of the Hague company Gunil and Co., a painting dealer, co-owned by his uncle.
Vincent did not have the ability to trade, but he had advantages that more than compensated for this deficiency: a love of painting, intelligence and the ability to win over oneself. As a result, he managed to achieve noticeable success in his work. In addition, Vincent had a good ability for languages, and in June 1873, when he was 20 years old, he was sent to work in the London branch of the firm. Here he spent the next two years, which became turning points in his entire destiny.
FIRST DISAPPOINTMENT
At first, Vincent lived in London easily and carefree, enjoying everything that the huge capital city could provide for a young man, and visiting not only museums and art galleries. He had a modest but quite decent salary and had all the prerequisites to eventually become a successful merchant. He even bought himself a top hat, which, as he wrote in one of his letters home, “is absolutely impossible to do without in London.” However, such an idyll very soon ended, and this happened when Vincent fell madly in love with the daughter of his landlady. The news that the girl was already engaged to someone else was a heavy blow for him. The pain Vincent experienced after being rejected literally changed him; he became silent and withdrawn. It was then that the beginning of bitter failures in relationships with women began, which haunted the artist throughout his life.
In 1875, Van Gogh was briefly transferred to the Paris branch of the company, then he returned to London for a while and finally came to Paris again. But the changes that took place in Vincent's character turned out to be irreversible. He became indifferent to his work, and his employers could not help but notice. As a result, soon after returning to Paris: he was fired.
FAITH AND PASSION
During the years he spent in London and Paris, Vincent began to find increasing solace in religion. He was possessed by a passionate desire to help all the disadvantaged and unfortunate, because life in big cities, and above all in London, opened his eyes to the terrible situation of the poor. In 1876 he returned to England, where he taught school, first in Ramsgate, on the south-east coast, and then in Isleworth, near London. At the beginning of 1877, having returned to Holland and having worked for several months as a clerk in a bookseller's company in Dordrecht, he moved to Amsterdam and began studying to become a priest. The harsh environment of the theological faculty was not to Vincent's liking; he quit his studies and in July 1878 returned to his parents' home for a short time. In March 1886, Val Gogh arrived in Paris to live in the apartment of his brother Theo, which he rented on Rue Lepique. For some time he took painting lessons from Fernand Cormon, in whose workshop he met Henri Toulouse-Lautrec. Here he made acquaintance with several other artists, the most famous of whom were Gauguin and Pissarro. In Paris, Van Gogh quickly progressed as an artist, abandoning the dark moods and subjects of his Dutch period and moving towards the bright palette used by the Impressionists and Post-Impressionists. The works of some of this galaxy of rebels - Monet, Degas, Renoir and Picasso - were exhibited at Theo Gallery and began to attract public attention. Then, after spending several months at an evangelical school in Brussels, Vincent becomes a preacher in the Borinage, a vast coal-mining region in Belgium populated mostly by struggling miners. Van Gogh devoted himself to this cause with all his passion, giving money and clothes to the poor and not having any income.
TURNING POINT
Although Van Gogh himself believed that he was only trying to convey the teachings of Christ to people, the church authorities perceived Vincent as an eccentric religious fanatic, and in July 1879 his activities were banned. After that, he lived in Borinage for another year, brightening up his loneliness by drawing, for which he showed modest talent as a child. By the summer of 1880, at the age of 27, Van Gogh had found his calling and decided that he should become an artist. Although Van Gogh took lessons from professional artists, he should still be considered self-taught. He learned his craft by copying paintings by recognized masters, studied books, including those from the “Self-Teacher” series, published by the Gupil company, and painted passionately and uncontrollably. At first, he concentrated entirely on drawing, hoping to eventually become an illustrator, and this hobby continued with him until the end of 1881 or the beginning of 1882, when Vincent began to take lessons from the artist Anton Mouve, who was a distant relative of him. It was then that Van Gogh created his first oil canvases.
BROKEN DREAMS
Working hard to master the basics of craftsmanship did not relieve Van Gogh of emotional problems. He had the chance to experience another romance, another unrequited passion. This time, Vincent's crush was his widowed cousin Kaya Vos, and once again Van Gogh suffered the pain of having his love rejected.
At Christmas 1881, Vincent quarreled with his father, and this quarrel, if not entirely, was at least partly related to Kay. As a result, Vincent left his parents' home and went to The Hague. Here he met Klazina Maria Hoornik, a poor seamstress who earned extra money as a prostitute, with whom he lived for about a year (and during this time he was forced to go to a venereology clinic). The thought of saving this “fallen woman”, of helping another unfortunate soul rejected by everyone, so possessed Van Gogh that he even wanted to marry Klazin. However, Van Gogh's family intervened, categorically objecting to this marriage, and over time this idea gradually died out on its own. During this difficult period of Vincent’s life, he was supported by his brother Theo, who exchanged not only letters with him, but also regularly helped him with money.
By the end of 1883, Vincent returned to his parents, who by this time had moved to Nyonen. He spends most of 1884 and 1885 with them. During this time, Van Gogh's skill progressed, and he painted his first large painting, “The Potato Eaters.” It depicts a peasant family, and in terms of the manner of painting, the work is typical of that period of the artist’s work. In November 1885, Van Gogh moved to Antwerp, where he attended classes at the Academy of Fine Arts. Later, in March 1886, he settled in Paris with his brother Theo.
MADNESS AND DESPAIR
From that time until the very end of his life, France became the artist’s home, and he was never destined to see his native Holland. However, Van Gogh did not feel like he belonged among the Parisian artists. His unpredictable actions and explosive temper, made even more dangerous by the fact that Van Gogh drank heavily during this time, made him a difficult person to deal with. In February 1888, Vincent left Paris and moved to Arles, a small town in the south of France. However, local residents were wary of the appearance of this strange man here. As Van Gogh himself wrote, they considered him “a lunatic, a murderer, a tramp.” However, all this did not stop Vincent from warming up under the gentle southern sun of Arles and even making new friends here, among whom was the postman Joseph Roulin, who posed for the artist several times. Here he makes an attempt to create a settlement for artists and convinces Gauguin to join him.
SIGN OF TROUBLE
A disagreement between Van Gogh and Gauguin occurred on December 23 or 24, and Vincent rushed at Gauguin with a razor. When Gauguin managed to escape, Van Gogh, in a rage, cut off part of his left ear with this razor. This was the first sign of mental illness, an illness that led to the artist’s death. After this, he spent two weeks in a psychiatric hospital, and returned to it again in February 1889, when he began to suffer from hallucinations. From May 1889 to May 1890, Van Gogh was on a voluntary basis in the Saint-Rémy-de-Provence hospital, where he was under constant medical supervision. In between bouts of illness, the true nature of which remained a mystery, Vincent painted at a furious pace, often depicting the surroundings of the hospital, its patients and staff.
He finally left the hospital in May 1890 and moved to Auvers-sur-Oise, a village located north of Paris. Along the way, Vincent stopped in Paris to visit Theo and his wife, who had just welcomed their first child. The boy was named Vincent in honor of his uncle. At first, Van Gogh felt quite happy in his new place, but his illness returned, and on July 27, 1890, he shot himself in the chest with a pistol. Two days later, the artist died quietly in the arms of his brother Theo. He was only 37 years old. Six months later, Theo also died, and both brothers were buried side by side in the Auvers cemetery.
Curious facts
The most expensive "Sunflowers" by Van Gogh are a copy made by Gauguin. The authoritative Italian art magazine Quadri e Sculture claims that “Sunflowers,” purchased in 1987 by the Japanese insurance company Yasuda Fire & Marine Insurance for a then-record sum of 25 million pounds sterling (over $35 million), was not actually painted by Wang Gog, and another famous artist Paul Gauguin. The Daily Telegraph reports that magazine author Antonio De Robertis comes to this discouraging conclusion based on correspondence between two artists and other indirect evidence.
During the period when Van Gogh created two “Sunflowers” and two of their original copies (1888-1889), the two artists communicated closely, and it is also known that Gauguin asked Van Gogh to “give him for a while” one of the “Sunflowers”. Vag Gogh refused, and then Gauguin “borrowed” the painting he liked without asking the author’s permission. This was not so difficult to do, because during Van Gogh’s lifetime, none of his “Sunflowers” interested buyers.
The fifth “Sunflowers” - the same ones that the Japanese bought - “surfaced” for the first time in 1891 (the year after Van Gogh’s death) in the salon of Gauguin’s friend, Schuffenecker, who was later accused of selling counterfeits of paintings by the great artist. De Robertis also claims that Gauguin painted a copy of Van Gogh's painting over his own still life. However, Yasuda refuses to X-ray his painting.
Vincent Van Gogh, a native of the Netherlands, is one of the most famous artists in the whole world. Thanks to the talent of the post-impressionist, a huge number of incredibly beautiful works were created. Van Gogh's most famous paintings are now considered his “calling card”.
However, not all of them were as widely known during the artist’s lifetime as they are in our time. Only after Van Gogh's death were his works noticed by critics, and only then were they appreciated. His collection of paintings contains many priceless paintings when viewed from a cultural perspective.
Blooming almond branches 1890
"Blossoming almond branches"(1890). At the beginning of 1890, Theo, Van Gogh's brother, had a son, who was named after the artist - also Vincent. Van Gogh became very attached to the child and once wrote in a letter to his daughter-in-law Jo: “He always looks at Uncle Vincent’s paintings with great interest.” This painting was painted by Van Gogh as a gift for his nephew's birthday. The artist himself was an admirer of Japanese art, especially the genre of Ukiyo-e engraving. The influence of this branch of Japanese painting can be seen in this, one of Van Gogh's most famous paintings, which was highly acclaimed by critics.
Wheat field with cypress trees 1889
"Wheat field with cypress trees"(1889). “Wheat Field with Cypress Trees” is one of three famous paintings by Van Gogh that are similar in composition. The painting mentioned above is the first of three and was completed in July 1889. The artist himself loved cypress trees and wheat fields and spent a lot of time enjoying their beauty. He regarded this painting as one of his best landscape paintings and, consequently, created two more similar works. It is this work that takes pride of place in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which is located in New York.
Bedroom in Arles 1888
"Bedroom in Arles"(1888). This famous painting by Van Gogh is the first version of three subsequent similar paintings that reference it and are called much more simply - “The Bedroom”. The decision to paint this picture was made by the artist after a trip to the city of Arles, and subsequent move there. Van Gogh corresponded with his brother Theo and friend Paul Gauguin. He often sent them sketches of his future paintings, as he did with the painting “Bedroom in Arles.” However, along with the planned one painting, three versions were created during 1888–1889. This series of paintings is distinguished by the fact that it depicts other works of the artist within the canvas itself, such as self-portraits, portraits of friends and Japanese prints.
Potato Eaters 1885
"Potato Eaters"(1885). This piece was Van Gogh's first recognizable work. His goal while painting was to depict the peasants as realistically as possible. Before the world saw the final version of the canvas, the artist created many sketches and sketches. Critics noted the simple interior, which Van Gogh skillfully conveyed through the canvas, which contains only the necessary furniture. A lamp above the table casts a dim light, emphasizing the tired, simple faces of the peasants.
Self-portrait with bandaged ear 1889
"Self-Portrait with a Bandaged Ear"(1889). Vincent Van Gogh became famous for his self-portraits. Throughout his life, he painted more than 30. This canvas has its own history. Once Van Gogh had a quarrel with one outstanding artist of that time, Paul Gauguin, after which the former got rid of part of his left ear, namely, he cut off the lobe with an ordinary razor. This painting is one of the artist's most famous self-portraits. After an unpleasant incident with Gauguin, he painted another self-portrait. Critics believe that this painting plausibly describes the artist’s facial features, since he painted it while sitting in front of a mirror.
Night cafe terrace 1888
"Night cafe terrace"(1888). In this painting, Van Gogh depicted the terrace of a café at the Forum Square in Arles, France. Due to the recognition of this painting, which has become widely known throughout the world, the terrace, which is located in the northeast corner of the square, attracts more and more tourists every day. This work was the first in which the artist depicted the starry sky. Café Terrace at Night remains one of Van Gogh's most analyzed and discussed paintings. Interestingly, one of the cafes in Croatia copied the design from the artist’s painting.
Dr. Gachet's Porter 1890
"Doctor Gachet's Porter"(1890) Paul-Ferdinand Gachet was a French doctor who treated the artist during the last months of his life. This portrait is one of Van Gogh's most famous paintings. However, there are two versions of the portrait, and this is the first version. In May 1990, this painting was auctioned for US$82 million, making it the most expensive painting ever sold. To date, this remains the highest price for a work of art at public auction.
Irises 1889
"Irises"(1889). Among Van Gogh's most recognizable works, this painting is the most famous. It was painted by Van Gogh a year before his death, and the artist himself defined it as “a lightning rod for my illness.” He believed that this painting was his hope not to go crazy. The artist’s canvas depicts a field, part of it strewn with flowers. There are other flowers among the irises, but it is the irises that occupy the central part of the picture. In September 1987, Irises sold for US$53.9 million. At that time, this was the highest price for which not a single painting had yet been sold. Today, the painting ranks 15th in the list of the most expensive works.
Sunflowers 1887
"Sunflowers"(1888). Vincent Van Gogh is considered a master of still life paintings and his series of sunflower paintings are considered the most famous still lifes ever created. The works are famous and memorable for depicting the natural beauty of plants and their vibrant colors. One of the paintings, “Vase with Fifteen Sunflowers,” was sold to a Japanese investor for almost $40 million in March 1987. Two years later, this record was transferred to the Irises.
Starry Night 1889
"Starry Night"(1889). This masterpiece was painted by Van Gogh from memory. It depicts the view from the window of the artist's sanatorium, which is located in Saint-Rémy de Provence in France. The work also shows Vincent's interest in astronomy, and research carried out by one of the observatories showed that Van Gogh represented the Moon, Venus and several stars in the exact position they occupied on that clear night, which is imprinted in the artist's memory. The painting is considered one of the greatest works in Western art and is certainly Vincent van Gogh's most famous work.
On December 23, 1888, the now world-famous post-impressionist artist Vincent Van Gogh lost his ear. There are several versions of what happened, however, Van Gogh’s whole life was full of absurd and very strange facts.
Van Gogh wanted to follow in his father's footsteps - to become a preacher
Van Gogh dreamed of becoming a priest, like his father. He even completed the missionary internship required for admission to an evangelical school. He lived in the outback among miners for about a year.
But it turned out that the admission rules had changed, and the Dutch had to pay for training. The missionary Van Gogh was offended and after that decided to leave religion and become an artist. However, his choice was not accidental. Vincent’s uncle was a partner in the largest art dealer company at that time, Goupil.
Van Gogh began painting only at the age of 27
Van Gogh began painting in adulthood, when he was 27 years old. Contrary to popular belief, he was not such a “brilliant amateur” like conductor Pirosmani or customs officer Russo. By that time, Vincent Van Gogh was an experienced art dealer and entered first the Academy of Arts in Brussels, and later the Antwerp Academy of Arts. True, he studied there for only three months until he left for Paris, where he met the Impressionists, including.
Van Gogh began with “peasant” paintings like “The Potato Eaters.” But his brother Theo, who knew a lot about art and supported Vincent financially throughout his life, managed to convince him that “light painting” was created for success, and the public would definitely appreciate it.
The artist's palette has a medical explanation
The abundance of yellow spots of different shades in the paintings of Vincent Van Gogh, according to scientists, has a medical explanation. There is a version that this vision of the world is caused by the large number of drugs for epilepsy consumed by him. He experienced attacks of this disease in the last years of his life due to hard work, a riotous lifestyle and abuse of absinthe.
The most expensive Van Gogh painting was in Goering's collection
For more than 10 years, Vincent van Gogh’s “Portrait of Doctor Gachet” held the title of the most expensive painting in the world. Japanese businessman Ryoei Saito, owner of a large paper production company, purchased this painting at a Christie's auction in 1990 for $82 million. The owner of the painting indicated in his will that the painting should be cremated with him after his death. In 1996, Ryoei Saito died. It is known for certain that the painting was not burned, but where exactly it is now is unknown. It is believed that the artist painted 2 versions of the painting.
However, this is just one fact from the history of “Portrait of Doctor Gachet.” It is known that after the exhibition “Degenerate Art” in Munich in 1938, the Nazi Goering acquired this painting for his collection. True, he soon sold it to a certain Dutch collector, and then the painting ended up in the USA, where it remained until Saito acquired it.
Van Gogh is one of the most kidnapped artists
In December 2013, the FBI published the top 10 high-profile thefts of ingenious works of art with the goal that the public could help solve the crimes. The most valuable on this list are two paintings by Van Gogh – “View of the Sea at Schevingen” and “Church at Newnen”, which are valued at $30 million each. Both of these paintings were stolen in 2002 from the Vincent Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. It is known that two men were arrested as suspects in the theft, but their guilt could not be proven.
In 2013, Vincent Van Gogh’s painting “Poppies,” which experts value at $50 million, was stolen from the Mohammed Mahmoud Khalil Museum in Egypt due to management negligence. The painting has not yet been returned.
Van Gogh's ear may have been cut off by Gauguin
The story with the ear raises doubts among many biographers of Vincent Van Gogh. The fact is that if the artist cut off his ear at the root, he would die from loss of blood. Only the artist's earlobe was cut off. There is a record of this in the surviving medical report.
There is a version that the incident with the cut off ear occurred during a quarrel between Van Gogh and Gauguin. Gauguin, experienced in sailor fights, slashed Van Gogh in the ear, and he had a seizure from stress. Later, trying to whitewash himself, Gauguin came up with a story about how Van Gogh chased him in a fit of madness with a razor and crippled himself.
Unknown Van Gogh paintings are still found today
This fall, the Vincent Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam identified a new painting by the great master. The painting “Sunset at Montmajour,” according to researchers, was painted by Van Gogh in 1888. What makes the find exceptional is the fact that the painting belongs to a period that art historians consider the pinnacle of the artist’s work. The discovery was made using methods such as comparisons of style, colors, techniques, computer analysis of the canvas, X-ray photographs and the study of Van Gogh's letters.
The painting “Sunset at Montmajour” is currently on display at the artist’s museum in Amsterdam in the exhibition “Van Gogh at Work.”
He wrote more than 900 works. His biography is studied at school, and his name is always heard. Vincent Van Gogh. The works of this artist are countless and priceless, but we will tell you about the most famous and most charismatic paintings with names and descriptions.
Starry Night (1889)
Looking at the painting “Starry Night”, you will immediately recognize Van Gogh in it. The artist worked on it in San Remy (city hospital), using a regular canvas 920x730 mm.
To “understand” a painting, you need to look at it from afar; this is due to the specific style of writing. An unusual technique made it possible to depict the static moon and stars as if they were constantly moving.
The canvas is surprising in that all the objects on it are conveyed either by color or by the nature of the stroke. Not with lines - with long or short strokes. And only contours were used to depict the village. Apparently to emphasize the contrast between the heavenly and the earthly.
“Starry Night” is the fruit of the artist’s recovering mind. Van Gogh's brother begged the doctors to give Vincent the opportunity to write to recover. And it helped.
Vague Gogh painted this particular picture from memory, which is not at all typical for him. He loved nature.
Van Gogh's favorite plant was sunflowers. I wrote them 11 times in several episodes. The most famous paintings with sunflowers were painted during the second “sunflower” period, when the artist lived in Arles in France - a fruitful era for him.
In letters to his brother, Van Gogh said that he painted with great zeal, and, of course, painted large sunflowers. I had to work from dawn and finish the canvas quickly, because the flowers immediately withered.
Irises (1889)
Another passion of the master is irises. And another fruit of the fight against the disease in the hospital. The canvas was painted a year before Van Gogh’s death and was called by him “a lightning rod for my illness.”
The first time the painting was sold to Octave Mirbeau (an art critic from France) for 300 francs. But in 1987, “Irises” became the most expensive painting in history, valued at $53.9 million.
Vincent's Bedroom at Arles (1889)
It is surprising that it is the paintings “from the hospital” that are world famous. "Vincent's Bedroom in Arles" is one of them, created in Saint-Rémy. This is not the original painting. The first work was damaged and Theo then advised his brother Vincent to copy the canvas before attempting to restore the original.
Two versions of "The Bedroom" were made, one of which was a gift for his mother and sister.
Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear and Pipe (1889)
Sometimes the self-portrait is called “with a cut off ear and a pipe.” The canvas was written in Arles.
How exactly Van Gogh lost his earlobe is unknown. The background story is Van Gogh's quarrel with Gauguin amid creative differences. Either his ear was injured in a fight while drinking, or Van Gogh did it himself in a crazy fit. He is 35.
Vincent's House at Arles (Yellow House) (1888)
Van Gogh could not afford comfortable housing. So he rented a room in a yellow house. The building was located in the central square of the city and was very dilapidated. This is where the Sunflowers were created and where the “southern workshop” was planned – Van Gogh’s idea to unite artists under one roof. In particular, Van Gogh dreamed of working here hand in hand with Gauguin.
Red Vineyards at Arles (1888)
Remember when we talked about “Irises” as the most expensive painting of its time? The painting “Red Vineyards in Arles” is famous for being the only work that was sold during the artist’s lifetime.
The Potato Eaters (1885)
Vincent Van Gogh loved this painting and highly appreciated it, sincerely calling it his masterpiece.
Yes, this is not “Starry Night” or “Irises”, not even “Sunflowers”, but “Eaters” was written 2 days after the death of the shepherd Theodore Van Gogh, the artist’s father. Being in a quarrel with his parent, Van Gogh could not calmly cope with the loss of his father. This should have been reflected in the master’s paintings and zeal.
The peasants themselves are partly like potatoes. Intentionally distorted to emphasize their provincialism and uncouthness. World art critics agree that Van Gogh still lacks experience and skill. And even during the artist’s lifetime, the work was critically assessed by his friend Anton van Rappard, who called “Eaters” a frivolous and careless painting.
4 canvas options. The first one on the left is a drawing. The bottom right is the finished version. Even though this is one of the works of the novice Van Gogh, you will not find so much invested young soul in any of his future works.
Van Gogh was surprised that Dr. Gachet, having so much knowledge in his field, himself suffered from melancholy and could not cope with what he saved others from.
Dr. Felix Rey helped Van Gogh while he was in Arles hospital. It is believed that the portrait was painted as a sign of gratitude for treatment and support.
Contemporaries confirmed that the portrait turned out very similar, but Felix Rey himself did not have much love for either art or his portrait by Van Gogh - the canvas hung in his chicken coop for 20 years, covering a hole in the wall.
Like sunflowers and irises, shoes in Van Gogh’s work are presented in a series. It is believed that the artist decided in this way to continue the idea of reflecting the life of simple provincial peasants, those same potato eaters.
There is no information about the purpose for which this series of works was created. And there is no sacred meaning. These are simply worn shoes through the prism of the vision of the recognized Van Gogh.
That's all for us. We hope you learned a little more about the man we know as Vincent Van Gogh. The works of the great artist are world-famous paintings. Do you have his favorite painting?
