Vincent van Gogh

1 - This man is one of the most famous painters ever to have lived. His name: Vincent van Gogh. He was born in 1853 in the small town of Groot-Zundert in the Netherlands. He died on July 29, 1890, near Paris, France. He was only 37 years old. Two days earlier, he had shot himself in the chest. He died from his injuries.

2 - Van Gogh left behind over 900 paintings and over 1,000 drawings. However, the painter probably did not have a happy life. He was very ill, many of his plans failed, and only a few people liked his paintings during his lifetime. But today he is world-famous, and his paintings sell for huge sums.

3 - Vincent van Gogh painted other people and himself time and again. He painted bright fields and blossoming trees. He painted sunny yellow, sky blue, fir green and clay brown. His brushstrokes resemble a small comma. That was his personal signature. The painting "The Starry Night" (Image 2) may be one of the most beautiful that Vincent van Gogh ever painted. It was created in June 1889. At the time, the painter was very ill. He lived in a psychiatric hospital in France.

4 - Vincent van Gogh was mentally ill. It is reported that in December 1888 he cut off part of an ear. Van Gogh then painted a self-portrait (3). At the time, hardly anyone wanted to buy his paintings. He had little money and was supported by his brother Theo. Van Gogh had many problems with other people, especially other painters. But he painted. He painted relentlessly, like a man possessed. More beautiful paintings followed.

4 - As a child, the young Vincent had little interest in painting. His father was a minister in a small town near Tilburg in the Netherlands. Vincent left school at the age of 15 and became an apprentice to an art dealer. He later worked in London for a while. But his desire to paint pictures himself grew stronger and stronger. Between 1883 and 1885, he travelled around Holland. The Potato Eaters (4) is one of van Gogh’s early works. It is painted in very dark colours and is quite unlike his later, colourful paintings. In his early paintings, he often depicted the poverty of the peasants.

5 - Vincent van Gogh moved to Paris in 1886. There he met many other painters and encountered different styles. He became interested in Japanese art and began painting in the Japanese style. Vincent van Gogh created the painting "Blossoming Plum Tree" (5) in Paris in 1887. He used oil paints, which he applied to a canvas. On the edge of the painting, he wrote the name and address of a house in Tokyo, the Japanese capital.

6 - After a few months, Vincent van Gogh moved from Paris to the south of France. He detested the cold and hoped to find warmth and bright colours there. He painted the famous picture "Sunflowers" (6) in the city of Arles in August 1887. A hundred years later, it was auctioned for around 37 million euros. That was a lot of money for a single painting by an artist who had been unable to make a living from selling his paintings during his lifetime.  

7 - About the painting “
Café Terrace at Night” (7), van Gogh wrote: “Little figures are sitting on the terrace drinking. A huge yellow lantern illuminates the terrace, the front of the house and the pavement, and even casts its light on the street, ... The façades of the houses along the street, which stretches away beneath the blue, starry sky, are dark blue or violet, with a green tree in front. There you have a night scene without black, just beautiful blue, violet and green, and in this setting the illuminated square becomes pale sulphur yellow and lemon green.”

8 - The painting "
Street with Cypress and Star" (8) was painted by van Gogh in May 1890. Many of his paintings were created outdoors in the countryside. This one, however, was painted in a studio. Cypress trees are the tall, curved trees that grow mainly in southern Europe. Here, van Gogh used short, broad brushstrokes that sometimes run in different directions and sometimes form lines. A landscape that should be peaceful seems lively and restless. This may reflect van Gogh's own inner turmoil when he painted this picture.

9 - Van Gogh probably painted one of his last pictures, “
Crows over the Cornfield”
(9), on a very hot summer’s day. Dark birds swoop down from a blue-black sky onto a defenseless cornfield. This painting has often been seen as a harbinger of the misfortune that was soon to follow.

10 - In May 1890, Vincent moved to Auvers, near Paris, to continue his treatment there. On the evening of 27 July, the artist set out with his easel as usual. In a field, he took a revolver and shot himself in the chest. He made his way to an inn, where he collapsed. His brother Theo hurried from Paris to be by his side. The painter died in his arms. Only after his death did he receive the recognition and respect he had longed for in vain during his lifetime. Today, his paintings are among the most famous—and most expensive—in the world.  

You can find more pictures by Vincent van Gogh at Wikipedia