Vincent Van Gogh born in the Dutch town of Groot-Zundert on March 30, 1853. Van Gogh was the first child in the family (not counting his brother, who was stillborn). His father's name was Theodore Van Gogh, his mother's name was Carnelia. They had a large family: 2 sons and three daughters. In Van Gogh's family, all the men dealt with paintings in one way or another, or served the church. By 1869, without even finishing school, he began working in a company that sold paintings. To tell the truth, Van Gogh was not good at selling paintings, but he had a boundless love for painting, and he was also good at languages. In 1873, at the age of 20, he ended up in, where he spent 2 years, which changed his whole life.

Van Gogh lived happily in London. He had a very good salary, which was enough to visit various art galleries and museums. He even bought himself a top hat, which he simply could not live without in London. Everything was going to the point that Van Gogh could become a successful merchant, but... as often happens, love, yes, exactly love, got in the way of his career. Van Gogh fell madly in love with the daughter of his landlady, but upon learning that she was already engaged, he became very withdrawn and became indifferent to his work. When he returned he was fired.

In 1877, Van Gogh began to live again, and increasingly found solace in religion. After moving to Moscow, he began studying to become a priest, but soon dropped out of school, as the situation at the faculty did not suit him.

In 1886, at the beginning of March, Van Gogh moved to Paris to live with his brother Theo, and lived in his apartment. There he takes painting lessons from Fernand Cormon, and meets such personalities as, and many other artists. Very quickly he forgets all the darkness of Dutch life, and quickly gains respect as an artist. He draws clearly and brightly in the style of impressionism and post-impressionism.

Vincent Van Gogh After spending 3 months at an evangelical school located in Brussels, he became a preacher. He distributed money and clothes to the needy poor, although he himself was not well off. This aroused suspicion among the church authorities, and his activities were banned. He did not lose heart and found solace in drawing.

By the age of 27, Van Gogh understood what his calling in this life was, and decided that he must become an artist at all costs. Although Van Gogh took drawing lessons, he can confidently be considered self-taught, because he himself studied many books, tutorials, and copied. At first he thought of becoming an illustrator, but then, when he took lessons from his relative-artist Anton Mouve, he painted his first works in oils.

It seemed that life began to get better, but Van Gogh again began to be haunted by failures, and love ones at that. His cousin Keya Vos became a widow. He really liked her, but he received a refusal, which he experienced for a long time. In addition, because of Kei, he had a very serious quarrel with his father. This disagreement was the reason for Vincent's move to The Hague. It was there that he met Klazina Maria Hoornik, who was a girl of easy virtue. Van Gogh lived with her for almost a year, and more than once he had to be treated for sexually transmitted diseases. He wanted to save this poor woman, and even thought of marrying her. But then his family intervened, and thoughts of marriage were simply dispelled.

Returning to his homeland to his parents, who had already moved to Nyonen by that time, his skills began to improve. He spent 2 years in his homeland. In 1885 Vincent settled in Antwerp, where he attended classes at the Academy of Arts. Then, in 1886, Van Gogh returned to Paris again, to his brother Theo, who throughout his life helped him, both morally and financially. became a second home for Van Gogh. It was in it that he lived the rest of his life. He didn't feel like a stranger here. Van Gogh drank a lot and had a very explosive temper. He could be described as a difficult person to deal with.

In 1888 he moved to Arles. Local residents were not happy to see him in their town, which was located in the south of France. They considered him an abnormal sleepwalker. Despite this, Vincent found friends here and felt quite good. Over time, he came up with the idea of ​​​​creating a settlement here for artists, which he shared with his friend Gauguin. Everything went well, but there was a disagreement between the artists. Van Gogh rushed at Gauguin, who had already become an enemy, with a razor. Gauguin barely escaped with his feet, miraculously surviving. Out of anger at failure, Van Gogh cut off part of his left ear. After spending 2 weeks in a psychiatric clinic, he returned there again in 1889, as he began to suffer from hallucinations.

In May 1890, he finally left the asylum and went to Paris to live with his brother Theo and his wife, who had just given birth to a boy, who was named Vincent in honor of his uncle. Life began to improve, and Van Gogh was even happy, but his illness returned again. On July 27, 1890, Vincent Van Gogh shot himself in the chest with a pistol. He died in the arms of his brother Theo, who loved him very much. Six months later, Theo also died. The brothers are buried in the Auvers cemetery nearby.

Vincent Van Gogh is a great artist that every person on Earth knows about today. But once upon a time no one knew about him at all: his path to the pinnacle of fame...

From Masterweb

30.05.2018 10:00

These days, few people do not know about the great artist Vincent Van Gogh. Van Gogh's biography was destined to be not too long, but eventful and full of hardships, brief ups and desperate downs. Few people know that in his entire life, Vincent managed to sell only one of his paintings for a significant amount, and only after his death did contemporaries recognize the enormous influence of the Dutch post-impressionist on 20th-century painting. Van Gogh's biography can be briefly summarized in the dying words of the great master:

The sadness will never end.

Unfortunately, the life of this amazing and original creator was full of pain and disappointment. But who knows, maybe if it weren’t for all the losses in life, the world would never have seen his amazing works, which people still admire?

Childhood

A brief biography and work of Vincent Van Gogh was restored through the efforts of his brother Theo. Vincent had almost no friends, so everything we now know about the great artist was told by a man who loved him immensely.

Vincent Willem van Gogh was born on March 30, 1853 in North Brabant in the village of Grote-Zundert. The firstborn of Theodore and Anna Cornelia Van Gogh died in infancy - Vincent became the eldest child in the family. Four years after Vincent was born, his brother Theodorus was born, with whom Vincent was close until the end of his life. In addition, they also had a brother, Cornelius, and three sisters (Anna, Elizabeth and Willemina).

An interesting fact in Van Gogh’s biography is that he grew up as a difficult and stubborn child with extravagant manners. At the same time, outside the family, Vincent was serious, soft, thoughtful and calm. He did not like to communicate with other children, but his fellow villagers considered him a modest and friendly child.

In 1864 he was sent to a boarding school in Zevenbergen. The artist Van Gogh recalled this part of his biography with pain: his departure caused him a lot of suffering. This place doomed him to loneliness, so Vincent began studying, but already in 1868 he left his studies and returned home. In fact, this is all the formal education that the artist managed to receive.

A brief biography and work of Van Gogh is still carefully preserved in museums and a few testimonies: no one could have imagined that the enfant terrible would become a truly great creator - even if his importance was recognized only after his death.

Work and missionary activity

A year after returning home, Vincent goes to work at the Hague branch of his uncle's art and trading company. In 1873, Vincent was transferred to London. Over time, Vincent learned to appreciate and understand painting. He later moved to 87 Hackford Road, where he rented a room from Ursula Loyer and her daughter Eugenie. Some biographers add that Van Gogh was in love with Eugenie, although the facts suggest that he loved the German Carlina Haanebeek.

In 1874, Vincent was already working in the Paris branch, but he soon returned to London. Things are getting worse for him: a year later he is transferred to Paris again, visits art museums and exhibitions, and finally plucks up the courage to try his hand at painting. Vincent cools down to work, fired up by a new business. All this leads to the fact that in 1876 he was fired from the company for poor work.

Then there comes a moment in the biography of Vincent van Gogh when he returns to London again and teaches at a boarding school in Ramsgate. During the same period of his life, Vincent devoted a lot of time to religion; he developed a desire to become a pastor, following in the footsteps of his father. A little later, Van Gogh moved to another school in Isleworth, where he began working as a teacher and assistant pastor. Vincent preached his first sermon there. His interest in writing grew, and he became inspired to preach to the poor.

At Christmas, Vincent went home, where he was begged not to go back to England. So he stayed in the Netherlands to help in a bookshop in Dordrecht. But this work did not inspire him: he mainly occupied himself with sketches and translations of the Bible.

His parents supported Van Gogh's desire to become a priest, sending him to Amsterdam in 1877. There he settles with his uncle Jan Van Gogh. Vincent studied hard under the supervision of Yoganess Stricker, a famous theologian, preparing for exams for admission to the theology department. But very soon he quits his studies and leaves Amsterdam.

The desire to find his place in the world led him to the Protestant Missionary School of Pastor Bokma in Laeken near Brussels, where he took a course in preaching. There is also an opinion that Vincent did not complete the full course because he was expelled due to his unkempt appearance, hot temper and fits of anger.

In 1878, Vincent became a missionary for six months in the village of Paturage in Borinage. Here he visited the sick, read the Scriptures for those who could not read, taught children, and spent his nights drawing maps of Palestine, earning his living. Van Gogh planned to enroll in an Evangelical school, but he considered paying for tuition discriminatory and abandoned the idea. Soon he was removed from the rank of preacher - this was a painful blow for the future artist, but also an important fact in Van Gogh’s biography. Who knows, perhaps, if not for this high-profile event, Vincent would have become a priest, and the world would never have known the talented artist.

Becoming an artist

Studying the short biography of Vincent Van Gogh, we can conclude: fate seemed to push him all his life in the right direction and led him to painting. Seeking salvation from despondency, Vincent again turns to painting. He turns to his brother Theo for support and in 1880 goes to Brussels, where he attends classes at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts. A year later, Vincent is forced to leave his studies again and return to his family. It was then that he decided that an artist does not need any talent, the main thing is to work hard and tirelessly. Therefore, he continues painting and drawing on his own.

During this period, Vincent experiences a new love, this time for his cousin, the widow Kay Vos-Stricker, who was visiting the Van Goghs' house. But she did not reciprocate, but Vincent continued to look after her, which caused the indignation of her relatives. Eventually he was told to leave. Van Gogh experiences another shock and abandons attempts to improve his further personal life.

Vincent leaves for The Hague, where he takes lessons from Anton Mauve. Over time, the biography and work of Vincent van Gogh was filled with new colors, including in painting: he experimented with mixing different techniques. Then such works of his as “Backyards” were born, which he created with chalk, pen and brush, as well as the painting “Roofs. View from Van Gogh's studio", painted in watercolor and chalk. The development of his work was greatly influenced by Charles Bargue’s book “A Course in Drawing,” lithographs from which he diligently copied.

Vincent was a man of fine spiritual organization, and, one way or another, was drawn to people and emotional return. Despite his decision to forget about his personal life, in The Hague he still made another attempt to start a family. He met Christine right on the street and was so imbued with her plight that he invited her to live in his house with the children. This act finally broke Vincent’s relationship with all his loved ones, but they maintained a warm relationship with Theo. This is how Vincent got a girlfriend and a model. But Christine turned out to have a nightmare character: Van Gogh’s life turned into a nightmare.

When they parted, the artist went north to the province of Drenthe. He equipped his home as a workshop, and spent whole days outdoors, creating landscapes. But the artist did not call himself a landscape painter, dedicating his paintings to peasants and their everyday life.

Van Gogh's early works are classified as realism, but his technique does not quite fit into this direction. One of the problems that Van Gogh faced in his work was the inability to correctly depict the human figure. But this only played into the hands of the great artist: it became a characteristic feature of his manner: the interpretation of man as an integral part of the surrounding world. This can be clearly seen, for example, in the work “A Peasant and a Peasant Woman Planting Potatoes.” Human figures are like mountains in the distance, and the elevated horizon seems to press on them from above, preventing them from straightening their backs. A similar technique can be seen in his later work “Red Vineyards”.

During this period of his biography, Van Gogh writes a series of works, including:

• "Leaving the Protestant Church in Nuenen";
• "Potato Eaters";
• "Peasant Woman";
• "Old church tower in Nuenen."

The paintings are created in dark shades, which symbolize the author’s painful perception of human suffering and a feeling of general depression. Van Gogh depicted the heavy atmosphere of hopelessness of the peasants and the sad mood of the village. At the same time, Vincent formed his own understanding of landscapes: in his opinion, landscapes express a person’s state of mind through the connection between human psychology and nature.

Parisian period

The artistic life of the French capital is thriving: it was there that the great artists of the time flocked. A landmark event was the exhibition of impressionists on rue Lafitte: for the first time, works by Signac and Seurat, who heralded the beginning of the post-impressionism movement, were shown. It was impressionism that revolutionized art, changing the approach to painting. This movement presented a confrontation with academicism and outdated subjects: at the head of creativity are pure colors and the very impression of what he saw, which are subsequently transferred to the canvas. Post-Impressionism was the final stage of Impressionism.

The Parisian period, lasting from 1986 to 1988, became the most fruitful in the artist’s life; his collection of paintings was replenished with more than 230 drawings and canvases. Vincent Van Gogh forms his own view of art: the realistic approach is becoming a thing of the past, replaced by a desire for post-impressionism.

With his acquaintance with Camille Pissarro, Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Claude Monet, the colors in his paintings begin to lighten and become brighter and brighter, eventually becoming a real riot of color, characteristic of his last works.

A landmark place was Papa Tanga’s shop, where art materials were sold. Here many artists met and exhibited their works. But Van Gogh’s temper was still irreconcilable: the spirit of competition and tension in society often drove the impulsive artist crazy, so that Vincent soon quarreled with his friends and decided to leave the French capital.

Among the famous works of the Parisian period are the following paintings:

• “Agostina Segatori at the Tambourine Cafe”;
• "Papa Tanguy"
• "Still Life with Absinthe";
• "Bridge over the Seine";
• "View of Paris from Theo's apartment on Rue Lepic."

Provence

Vincent goes to Provence and is imbued with this atmosphere for the rest of his life. Theo supports his brother's decision to become a real artist and sends him money to live on, and he, in gratitude, sends him his paintings in the hope that his brother will be able to sell them profitably. Van Gogh checks into a hotel where he lives and works, periodically inviting random visitors or acquaintances to pose.

With the onset of spring, Vincent goes outside and draws flowering trees and reviving nature. The ideas of impressionism gradually leave his work, but remain in the form of a light palette and pure colors. During this period of his work, Vincent wrote “The Peach Tree in Bloom” and “Anglois Bridge in Arles”.

Van Gogh even worked at night, once inspired by the idea of ​​capturing the special night colors and glow of the stars. It works by candlelight: this is how the famous “Starry Night over the Rhone” and “Night Cafe” were created.

Severed ear

Vincent comes up with the idea of ​​​​creating a common house for the artist, where creators could create their masterpieces while living and working together. An important event is the arrival of Paul Gauguin, with whom Vincent had a long correspondence. Together with Gauguin, Vincent writes works filled with passion:

• "Yellow House";
• "Harvest. La Croe Valley";
• "Gauguin's Chair".

Vincent was overjoyed, but this union ends in a loud quarrel. Passions were heating up, and in one of his desperate moments, Van Gogh, according to some accounts, attacks a friend with a razor in his hands. Gauguin manages to stop Vincent, and he ends up cutting off his earlobe. Gauguin leaves his house, while he wrapped the bloody flesh in a napkin and handed it to a prostitute he knew, Rachelle. His friend Roulin found him in a pool of his own blood. Although the wound soon healed, the deep scar on his heart affected Vincent’s mental health for the rest of his life. Vincent soon finds himself in a psychiatric hospital.

Creativity flourishes

During periods of remission, he asked to return to the studio, but the residents of Arles signed a statement to the mayor asking him to isolate the mentally ill artist from civilians. But the hospital did not forbid him to create: until 1889, Vincent worked on new paintings right there. During this time, he created more than 100 drawings in pencil and watercolor. The canvases of this period are distinguished by tension, bright dynamics and juxtaposition of contrasting colors:

• "Starlight Night";
• "Landscape with Olives";
• "Wheat field with cypress trees."

At the end of the same year, Vincent was invited to participate in the G20 exhibition in Brussels. His works aroused great interest among art connoisseurs, but this could no longer please the artist, and even a laudatory article about the “Red Vineyards in Arles” did not make the exhausted Van Gogh happy.

In 1890, he moved to Opera-sur-Ourz, near Paris, where he saw his family for the first time in a long time. He continued to write, but his style became increasingly gloomy and depressing. A distinctive feature of that period was the curved and hysterical contour, which can be seen in the following works:

• "Street and stairs in Auvers";
• "Rural road with cypress trees";
• "Landscape in Auvers after the rain."

Last years

The last bright memory in the life of the great artist was meeting Dr. Paul Gachet, who also loved to write. Friendship with him supported Vincent during the most difficult periods of his life - except for his brother, the postman Roulin and Doctor Gachet, by the end of his life he had no close friends left.

In 1890, Vincent painted the canvas “Wheat Field with Crows,” and a week later a tragedy occurred.

The circumstances of the artist's death look mysterious. Vincent died from a shot in the heart from his own revolver, which he carried with him to scare away birds. Dying, the artist admitted that he shot himself in the chest, but missed, hitting a little lower. He himself got to the hotel where he lived, and they called a doctor for him. The doctor was skeptical about the version of a suicide attempt - the angle of entry of the bullet was suspiciously low, and the bullet did not go through, which suggests that it was as if they were shooting from afar - or at least from a distance of a couple of meters. The doctor immediately called Theo - he arrived the next day and was with his brother until his death.

There is a version that on the eve of Van Gogh’s death, the artist had a serious quarrel with Dr. Gachet. He accused him of insolvency, while his brother Theo is literally dying from a disease that is eating him up, but still sends him money to live on. These words could have greatly hurt Vincent - after all, he himself felt enormous guilt before his brother. In addition, in recent years, Vincent had feelings for the lady, which again did not lead to reciprocity. Being as depressed as possible, upset by a quarrel with a friend, and having recently left the hospital, Vincent could well have decided to commit suicide.

Vincent died on July 30, 1890. Theo loved his brother endlessly and experienced this loss with great difficulty. He began organizing an exhibition of Vincent's posthumous works, but less than a year later he died of severe nervous shock on January 25, 1891. Years later, Theo's widow reburied his remains next to Vincent: she believed that inseparable brothers should be close to each other at least after death.

Confession

There is a widespread misconception that during his lifetime Van Gogh was able to sell only one of his paintings - “Red Vineyards in Arles”. This work was only the first to be sold for a large sum - about 400 francs. However, there are documents indicating the sale of 14 more paintings.

Vincent Van Gogh received truly wide recognition only after his death. His commemorative exhibitions were organized in Paris, The Hague, Antwerp, and Brussels. Interest in the artist began to grow, and at the beginning of the 20th century, retrospectives began in Amsterdam, Paris, New York, Cologne and Berlin. People began to be interested in his work, and his work began to influence the younger generation of artists.

Gradually, prices for the artist's paintings began to increase until they became one of the most expensive paintings ever sold in the world, along with works by Pablo Picasso. Among his most expensive works:

• “Portrait of Doctor Gachet”;
• "Irises";
• “Portrait of the Postman Joseph Roulin”;
• “Wheat field with cypress trees”;
• “Self-portrait with a cut off ear and a pipe”;
• "A plowed field and a plowman."

Influence

In his last letter to Theo, Vincent wrote that, having no children of his own, the artist perceived the paintings as his continuation. To some extent this was true: he did have children, and the first of them was Expressionism, which later began to have many heirs.

Many artists subsequently adapted the features of Van Gogh’s style to their own work: Howard Hodgkin, Willem de Koening, Jackson Pollock. Fauvism soon came, which expanded the scope of color, and expressionism became widespread.

The biography of Van Gogh and his work gave the expressionists a new language that helped the creators delve deeper into the essence of things and the world around them. Vincent became, in a sense, a pioneer in modern art, trodden a new path in visual art.

It is almost impossible to tell Van Gogh’s biography briefly: his work during his unfortunately short life was influenced by so many different events that to omit at least one of them would be a terrible injustice. Vincent's difficult path in life led him to the pinnacle of fame, but posthumous fame. During his lifetime, the great painter did not know either about his own genius, or about the enormous legacy that he left to the world of art, or about how his family and friends missed him in the future. Vincent spent a lonely and sad life, rejected by everyone. He found salvation in art, but was never able to escape. But, one way or another, he gave the world many amazing works that warm people’s hearts to this day, so many years later.

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March 30, 2013 - 160 years since the birth of Vincent Van Gogh (March 30, 1853 - July 29, 1890)

Vincent Willem Van Gogh (Dutch. Vincent Willem van Gogh, March 30, 1853, Grot-Zundert, near Breda, the Netherlands - July 29, 1890, Auvers-sur-Oise, France) - world famous Dutch post-impressionist artist

Self-portrait (1888, Private collection)

Vincent Van Gogh was born on March 30, 1853 in the village of Groot Zundert in the province of North Brabant in the south of the Netherlands, near the Belgian border. Vincent's father was Theodore Van Gogh, a Protestant pastor, and his mother was Anna Cornelia Carbentus, the daughter of a venerable bookbinder and bookseller from The Hague. Vincent was the second of seven children of Theodore and Anna Cornelia. He received his name in honor of his paternal grandfather, who also devoted his entire life to the Protestant church. This name was intended for Theodore and Anna's first child, who was born a year earlier than Vincent and died on the first day. So Vincent, although born second, became the eldest of the children.

Four years after Vincent's birth, on May 1, 1857, his brother Theodorus Van Gogh (Theo) was born. In addition to him, Vincent had a brother Cor (Cornelis Vincent, May 17, 1867) and three sisters - Anna Cornelia (February 17, 1855), Liz (Elizabeth Guberta, May 16, 1859) and Wil (Willemina Jacoba, March 16, 1862). Family members remember Vincent as a willful, difficult and boring child with “strange manners”, which was the reason for his frequent punishments. According to the governess, there was something strange about him that distinguished him from the others: of all the children, Vincent was the least pleasant to her, and she did not believe that anything worthwhile could come of him. Outside the family, on the contrary, Vincent showed the other side of his character - he was quiet, serious and thoughtful. He hardly played with other children. In the eyes of his fellow villagers, he was a good-natured, friendly, helpful, compassionate, sweet and modest child. When he was 7 years old, he went to a village school, but a year later he was taken away from there, and together with his sister Anna he studied at home, with a governess. On October 1, 1864, he went to boarding school in Zevenbergen, 20 km from his home. Leaving home caused Vincent a lot of suffering; he could not forget it, even as an adult. On September 15, 1866, he began studying at another boarding school - Willem II College in Tilburg. Vincent is good at languages ​​- French, English, German. There he received drawing lessons. In March 1868, in the middle of the school year, Vincent suddenly left school and returned to his father's house. This ends his formal education. He recalled his childhood like this: “My childhood was dark, cold and empty...”.

Vincent van Gogh im Jahr 1866 im Alter von 13 Jahren.

In July 1869, Vincent got a job in the Hague branch of the large art and trading company Goupil & Cie, owned by his uncle Vincent (“Uncle Cent”). There he received the necessary training as a dealer. In June 1873 he was transferred to the London branch of Goupil & Cie. Through daily contact with works of art, Vincent began to understand and appreciate painting. In addition, he visited the city's museums and galleries, admiring the works of Jean-François Millet and Jules Breton. In London, Vincent becomes a successful dealer, and at the age of 20 he already earns more than his father.

Die Innenräume der Haager Filiale der Kunstgalerie Goupil&Cie, wo Vincent van Gogh den Kunsthandel erlernte

Van Gogh stayed there for two years and experienced a painful loneliness, which comes through in his letters to his brother, more and more sad. But the worst comes when Vincent, having exchanged the apartment that has become too expensive for a boarding house, which is maintained by the widow Loyer at 87 Hackford Road, falls in love with her daughter Ursula (according to other sources - Eugenia) and is rejected. This is the first acute love disappointment, this is the first of those impossible relationships that will constantly darken his feelings.
During that period of deep despair, a mystical understanding of reality begins to mature in him, developing into downright religious frenzy. His impulse grows stronger, displacing his interest in working at Gupil.

In 1874, Vincent was transferred to the Paris branch of the company, but after three months of work he again left for London. Things were getting worse for him, and in May 1875 he was again transferred to Paris. Here he attended exhibitions at the Salon and the Louvre. At the end of March 1876, he was fired from the company Goupil & Cie, which by that time had passed to partners Busso and Valadon. Driven by compassion and the desire to be useful to his neighbors, he decided to become a priest.

In 1876 Vincent returned to England, where he found unpaid work as a teacher at a boarding school in Ramsgate. In July, Vincent moved to another school - in Isleworth (near London), where he worked as a teacher and assistant pastor. On November 4, Vincent preached his first sermon. His interest in the gospel grew, and he became obsessed with the idea of ​​preaching to the poor.

Vincent Van Gogh at 23

Vincent went home for Christmas and his parents persuaded him not to return to England. Vincent remained in the Netherlands and worked in a bookshop in Dordrecht for six months. This job was not to his liking; he spent most of his time sketching or translating passages from the Bible into German, English and French. In an attempt to support Vincent's aspirations to become a pastor, his family sent him in May 1877 to Amsterdam, where he settled with his uncle, Admiral Jan Van Gogh. Here he studied diligently under the guidance of his uncle Yoganess Stricker, a respected and recognized theologian, in preparation for passing the university entrance examination for the department of theology. In the end, he became disillusioned with his studies, quit his studies and left Amsterdam in July 1878. The desire to be useful to ordinary people sent him to the Protestant missionary school in Laeken near Brussels, where he completed a three-month course in preaching.

In December 1878, he was sent as a missionary for six months to Borinage, a poor mining area in southern Belgium. After completing a six-month internship, Van Gogh intended to enter an evangelical school to continue his education, but considered the introduced tuition fees to be a manifestation of discrimination, and abandoned the path of a priest.

In 1880, Vincent entered the Academy of Arts in Brussels. However, due to his irreconcilable nature, he very soon leaves her and continues his art education as a self-taught person, using reproductions and regularly drawing. Back in January 1874, in his letter, Vincent listed fifty-six favorite artists to Theo, among whom the names of Jean François Millet, Théodore Rousseau, Jules Breton, Constant Troyon and Anton Mauve stood out.

And now, at the very beginning of his artistic career, his sympathies for the realistic French and Dutch schools of the nineteenth century have in no way weakened. Moreover, the social art of Millet or Breton, with their populist themes, could not help but find in him an unconditional follower. As for the Dutchman Anton Mauwe, there was another reason: Mauwe, along with Johannes Bosboom, the Maris brothers and Joseph Israels, was one of the major representatives of the Hague School, the most significant artistic phenomenon in Holland in the second half of the 19th century, which united the French realism of the Barbizon school formed around Rousseau, with the great realistic tradition of Dutch art of the 17th century. Mauve was also a distant relative of Vincent's mother.

And it was under the guidance of this recognized master that in 1881, upon returning to Holland (to Etten, where his parents had moved), Van Gogh created his first two paintings: “Still Life with Cabbage and Wooden Shoes” (now in Amsterdam, in the Vincent Van Museum Gogh) and “Still Life with Beer Glass and Fruit” (Wuppertal, Von der Heydt Museum).

Still life with a mug of beer and fruit. (1881, Wuppertal, Von der Heydt Museum)

For Vincent, everything seems to be working out for the better, and the family seems to be happy with his new calling. But soon relations with parents deteriorate sharply, and then are completely interrupted. The reason for this, again, is his rebellious character and unwillingness to adapt, as well as a new, inappropriate and again unrequited love for his cousin Kay, who recently lost her husband and was left alone with a child.

Having fled to The Hague, in January 1882, Vincent meets Christina Maria Hoornik, nicknamed Sin, an older prostitute, an alcoholic, with a child, and even pregnant. Being at the apogee of his contempt for existing decency, he lives with her and even wants to get married. Despite financial difficulties, he continues to be faithful to his calling and completes several works. Most of the paintings from this very early period are landscapes, mainly sea and urban: the theme is quite in the tradition of the Hague School.

However, its influence is limited to the choice of subjects, since Van Gogh was not characterized by that refined texture, that elaboration of details, those ultimately idealized images that distinguished the artists of this movement. From the very beginning, Vincent gravitated towards an image that was more truthful than beautiful, trying first of all to express a sincere feeling, and not just achieve a good performance.

By the end of 1883, the burden of family life had become unbearable. Theo, the only one who has not turned his back on him, convinces his brother to leave Sin and devote himself entirely to art. A period of bitterness and loneliness begins, which he spends in the north of Holland in Drenthe. In December of the same year, Vincent moved to Nuenen, in North Brabant, where his parents now live.

Theo van Gogh (1888)

Here, in two years, he creates hundreds of canvases and drawings, even teaches painting to students, takes music lessons himself, and reads a lot. In a significant number of works, he depicts peasants and weavers - the same working people who could always count on his support and who were sung by those who were his authorities in painting and literature (his favorites were Zola and Dickens).

In a series of paintings and sketches from the mid-1880s. (“Exit from the Protestant Church in Nuenen” (1884-1885), “Old Church Tower in Nuenen” (1885), “Shoes” (1886), Vincent van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam), written in a dark painterly palette, marked by painful With a keen perception of human suffering and feelings of depression, the artist recreated the oppressive atmosphere of psychological tension.

Exit from the Protestant Church in Nuenen, (1884-1885, Vincent van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam)

Old church tower in Nuenen, (1885, Vincent van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam)

Shoes, (1886, Vincent van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam)

Beginning with Harvesting Potatoes (now in a private collection in New York), painted in 1883 while he was still living in The Hague, the theme of ordinary downtrodden people and their labor runs throughout his Dutch period: the emphasis is on expressive scenes and figures, the palette is dark, with a predominance of dull and gloomy tones.

The masterpiece of this period is the canvas “The Potato Eaters” (Amsterdam, Vincent Van Gogh Museum), created in April-May 1885, in which the artist depicts an ordinary scene from the life of a peasant family. By that time, this was the most serious work for him: against custom, he made preparatory drawings of peasant heads, interiors, individual details, compositional sketches, and Vincent wrote it in the studio, and not from life, as he was used to.

The Potato Eaters, (1885, Vincent van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam)

In 1887, when he had already moved to Paris - a place where, since the 19th century, all those who were in one way or another involved in art had been relentlessly striving - he wrote to his sister Willemina: “I think that of all my works the painting with the peasants who eat potatoes, written in Nuenen, is by far the best thing I have done." By the end of November 1885, after his father unexpectedly died in March and slanderous rumors spread that he was the father of a child who was born to a young peasant woman who posed for him, Vincent moved to Antwerp, where he again came into contact with the artistic environment.

He enters the local School of Fine Arts, visits museums, admiring the works of Rubens, and discovers Japanese prints, so popular at that time among Western artists, especially the Impressionists. He studies diligently, intending to continue his studies at the higher courses of the School, but an ordinary career is clearly not for him, and the exams turn out to be a failure.

But Vincent will never know about this, because, obeying his impulsive nature, he decides that for an artist there is only one city where it really makes sense to live and create, and he leaves for Paris.

Van Gogh arrives in Paris on February 28, 1886. The brother learns about Vincent's arrival only from a note inviting him to meet at the Louvre, which is delivered to him at the art gallery of Busso & Valadon, the new owners of the company Goupil & Co., where Theo has been working continuously since October 1879, having risen to the rank of director.

Van Gogh begins to act in the city of opportunity and motivation with the help of his brother Theo, who gave him shelter in his house on the Rue Laval (now Rue Victor-Masse). Later a larger apartment will be found on Lepik Street.

View of Paris from Theo's apartment on Rue Lepic (1887, Vincent van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam).

After arriving in Paris, Vincent began studying with Fernand Cormon (1845-1924) in his atelier. Although, these were not so much classes as communication with his new comrades in art: John Russell (1858-1931), Henri Toulouse-Lautrec (1864-1901) and Emile Bernard (1868-1941). Later, Theo, who was then working as a manager at the Bosso and Valladon gallery, introduced Vincent to the works of impressionist artists: Claude Monet, Pierre Auguste Renoir, Camille Pissarro (together with his son Lucien, he would become Vincent's friend), Edgar Degas and Georges Seurat. Their work made a huge impression on him and changed his attitude towards color. In the same year, Vincent met another artist, Paul Gauguin, whose ardent and irreconcilable friendship became the most important event in the lives of both.

The time spent in Paris from February 1886 to February 1888 turned out to be a period of technical research and comparisons with the most innovative trends in modern painting for Vincent. Over these two years, he creates two hundred and thirty canvases - more than during any other stage of his creative biography.

The transition from realism, characteristic of the Dutch period and preserved in the first Parisian works, to a manner testifying to Van Gogh’s submission (though never unconditional or literal) to the dictates of impressionism and post-impressionism, clearly manifested itself in a series of still lifes with flowers (among which are the first sunflowers ) and landscapes painted in 1887. Among these landscapes is “Bridges at Asnieres” (now in a private collection in Zurich), which depicts one of the favorite places in impressionist painting, which repeatedly attracted artists, as did other villages on the banks of the Seine: Bougival, Chatou and Argenteuil. Like impressionist artists, Vincent, in the company of Bernard and Signac, goes to the banks of the river in the open air.

Bridge at Asnieres (1887, Bührle Foundation, Zürich, Switzerland)

This type of work allows him to strengthen his relationship with color. “In Asnieres, I saw more color than ever before,” he notes. During this period, the study of color attracted all his attention: now Van Gogh grasps it separately and no longer assigns it a purely descriptive role, as in the times of narrower realism.

Following the example of the Impressionists, the palette brightens significantly, preparing the ground for that yellow-blue explosion, for those riotous colors that became characteristic of the last years of his work.

In Paris, Van Gogh communicates most with people: he meets other artists, talks with them, and visits the same places that his fellow artists have chosen. One of them is “Tambourine,” a cabaret on the Boulevard Clichy, in Montmartre, whose owner was the Italian Agostina Segatori, a former model for Degas. Vincent has a short affair with her: the artist makes a beautiful portrait of her, depicting her sitting at one of the tables of his own cafe (Amsterdam, Vincent Van Gogh Museum). She also poses for his only nudes painted in oil, and perhaps for “The Italian” (Paris, Musée d'Orsay).

Agostina Segatori in the Tambourine Café, (1887-1888, Vincent van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam)

Nude in Bed (1887, Barnes Foundation, Merion, Pennsylvania, USA)

Another meeting place was the shop of “Papa” Tanguy on Rue Clausel, a shop of paints and other artistic materials, the owner of which was an old communard and a generous philanthropist. Both here and there, as in other similar institutions of the time, which sometimes served as exhibition spaces, Vincent organized a display of his own works, as well as works of his closest friends: Bernard, Toulouse-Lautrec and Anquetin.

Portrait of Père Tanguy (Father Tanguy), (1887-8, Musée Rodin)

Together they form the group of Small Boulevards - this is how Van Gogh calls himself and his companions in order to emphasize the difference with the more famous and recognized masters of the Grand Boulevards, as defined by Van Gogh. Behind all this is the dream of creating a community of artists on the model of medieval brotherhoods, where friends live and work in complete unanimity.

But the reality in Paris is completely different, there is a spirit of competition and tension. “To succeed you need vanity, and vanity seems absurd to me,” Vincent declares to his brother. In addition, his impulsive nature and uncompromising attitude often involve him in disputes and feuds, and even Theo finally breaks down and complains in a letter to his sister Willemina how it has become “almost unbearable” to live with him. In the end, Paris becomes disgusting to him.

“I want to hide somewhere to the south so as not to see so many artists who disgust me as people,” he admits in a letter to his brother.

That's what he does. In February 1888, he sets off towards Arles, into the warm embrace of Provence.

“The nature here is extraordinarily beautiful,” Vincent writes to his brother from Arles. Van Gogh arrives in Provence in the middle of winter, there is even snow there. But the colors and light of the south make a deep impression on him, and he becomes attached to this region, just as Cezanne and Renoir were later captivated by it. Theo sends him two hundred and fifty francs a month to live and work.

Vincent tries to recoup this money and - as he began to do since 1884 - sends him his paintings and again bombards him with letters. His correspondence with his brother (from December 13, 1872 to 1890, Theo receives 668 of his letters out of a total of 821) is, as always, full of sober introspection regarding his mental and emotional state and is full of valuable information about artistic ideas and their implementation.

Arriving in Arles, Vincent checks into the Carrel Hotel, at number 3 on Rue Cavalery. At the beginning of May, for fifteen francs a month, he rents four rooms in a building on Place La Martine, at the entrance to the city: this is the famous Yellow House (destroyed during the Second World War), which Van Gogh depicts in the canvas of the same name, now kept in Amsterdam .

The Yellow House (1888, Vincent van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam)

Van Gogh hopes that in time he will be able to establish a community of artists there along the lines of the one that formed in Brittany, in Pont-Aven, around Paul Gauguin. While the premises are not yet completely ready, he spends the night in a nearby cafe and eats in a station cafe, where he becomes a friend of the owners, the Ginoux couple. Having entered his life, the friends Vincent makes in a new place almost automatically end up in his art.

Thus, Madame Ginoux will pose for him for “La Arlesienne,” the postman Roulin, an old anarchist of a cheerful disposition, described by the artist as “a man with a large Socratic beard,” will be depicted in some portraits, and his wife will appear in five versions of “Lullaby.”

Portrait of the postman Joseph Roulin. (July-August 1888, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston)

Lullaby, portraits of Madame Roulin (1889, Art Institute, Chicago)

Among the first works created in Arles are many images of flowering trees. “These places seem beautiful to me, like Japan, because of the transparency of the air and the play of cheerful colors,” writes Vincent. And it was Japanese prints that served as a model for these works, as well as for several versions of the Langlois Bridge, reminiscent of individual landscapes by Hiroshige. The lessons of impressionism and divisionism of the Parisian period remain behind.

Langlois Bridge near Arles. (Arles, May 1888. State Museum Kröller-Müller, Waterloo)

“I find that what I learned in Paris disappears, and I return to those thoughts that came to me in nature, before meeting the Impressionists,” Vincent writes to Theo in August 1888.

What still remains from the previous experience is fidelity to light colors and work in the open air: the colors - especially yellow, which predominates in the Arlesian palette in such rich and bright colors as in the paintings "Sunflowers" - acquire a special radiance, like would be breaking out from the depths of the image.

Vase with twelve sunflowers. (Arles, August 1888. Munich, Neue Pinakothek)

Working outdoors, Vincent defies the wind, which overturns the easel and raises the sand, and for the night sessions he invents a system as ingenious as it is dangerous, mounting burning candles on his hat and on the easel. Night views painted in this way - note "The Night Cafe" and "Starry Night over the Rhone", both created in September 1888 - become some of his most enchanting paintings and reveal how bright the night can be.

Terrace of the night cafe Place du Forum in Arles. (Arles, September 1888. Kroller-Moller Museum, Oterloo)

Starry night over the Rhone. (Arles, September 1888. Paris, Musee d'Orsay)

The paints, applied with flat strokes and a palette knife to create large and uniform surfaces, characterize - along with the "high yellow note" that the artist claims to have found in the south - such a painting as Van Gogh's Bedroom at Arles.

Bedroom in Arles (first version) (1888, Vincent van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam)

Artist on the way to Tarascon, August 1888, Vincent Van Gogh on the road near Montmajour (former Magdeburg Museum; the painting is believed to have been lost in a fire during World War II)

Night cafe. Arles, (September 1888. Connecticut, Yale University of Fine Arts)

And the 22nd of the same month became an important date in the life of Van Gogh: Paul Gauguin arrives in Arles, who was repeatedly invited by Vincent (eventually convinced by Theo), accepting the offer to stay in the Yellow House. After an initial period of enthusiastic and fruitful existence, the relationship between two artists, two opposite natures - the restless, uncollected Van Gogh and the confident, pedantic Gauguin - deteriorates until they break up.

Paul Gauguin (1848-1903) Van Gogh Painting Sunflowers (1888, Vincent van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam)

The tragic epilogue, as Gauguin will tell, will be Christmas Eve 1888, when, after a stormy quarrel, Vincent grabs a razor in order, as it seemed to Gauguin, to attack his friend. He, frightened, runs out of the house and goes to the hotel. At night, falling into a frenzy, Vincent cuts off his left earlobe and, wrapping it in paper, takes it as a gift to a prostitute named Rachelle, whom they both know.

Van Gogh is discovered on the bed in a pool of blood by his friend Roulin, and the artist is taken to the city hospital, where, against all fears, he recovers in a few days and can be released home, but new attacks repeatedly return him to the hospital. Meanwhile, his difference from others begins to frighten the Arlesians, to such an extent that in March 1889, thirty citizens write a petition asking to free the city from the “red madman.”

Self-portrait with a bandaged ear and a tube. Arles, (January 1889, Niarchos Collection)

So, the nervous illness that had always smoldered in him finally broke through.

Van Gogh's entire life and work were influenced by his physical and mental illness. His experiences were always experiences of the superlative degree; he was very emotional, reacted with his soul and heart, and threw himself into everything like a whirlwind. From an early age, Vincent’s parents began to worry about their son “with bad nerves,” and they didn’t have much hope that their son could do anything in life. After Van Gogh decided to become an artist, Theo looked after his older brother from a distance. But Theo could not always prevent the fact that the artist completely forgot about himself, working like a man possessed, or due to lack of funds. During such periods, Van Gogh sat for days on end on coffee and bread. In Paris, he abused alcohol. Leading such a lifestyle, Van Gogh acquired all sorts of illnesses: he had problems with his teeth and a bad stomach. There are a huge number of versions regarding Van Gogh's illness. There are suggestions that he suffered from a special form of epilepsy, the symptoms of which progressed as his physical health weakened. His nervous temperament only made matters worse; in a fit he fell into depression and utter despair about himself

Realizing the danger of his mental disorder, the artist decides to do everything to recover, and on May 8, 1889, he voluntarily entered the specialized hospital of St. Paul of the Mausoleum near Saint-Rémy-de-Provence (doctors diagnosed “temporal lobe epilepsy”). In this hospital, headed by Dr. Peyron, Van Gogh is still allowed some freedom, and he even has the opportunity to paint in the open air under the supervision of the staff.

This is how the fantastic masterpieces “Starry Night”, “Road with Cypresses and a Star”, “Olive Trees, Blue Sky and White Cloud” are born - works from a series characterized by extreme graphic tension, which enhances the emotional frenzy with frantic swirls, wavy lines and dynamic tufts.

Starry Night (1889. Museum of Modern Art, New York)

Landscape with Road, Cypress and Star (1890. Kroller-Müller Museum, Waterloo)

Olive trees against the backdrop of the Alpille (1889. John Hay Whitney collection, USA)

In these paintings - where cypresses and olive trees with twisted branches reappear as harbingers of death - the symbolic significance of Van Gogh's painting is especially noticeable.

Vincent's painting does not fit into the framework of the art of symbolism, which finds inspiration in literature and philosophy, welcoming dream, mystery, magic, rushing into the exotic - that ideal symbolism, the line of which can be traced from Puvis de Chavannes and Moreau to Redon, Gauguin and the Nabis group. .

Van Gogh seeks in symbolism a possible means to reveal the soul, to express the measure of being: that is why his legacy will be perceived by expressionist painting of the 20th century in its various manifestations.

In Saint-Rémy, Vincent alternates between periods of intense activity and long breaks caused by deep depression. At the end of 1889, at a moment of crisis, he swallows paint. And yet, with the help of his brother, who married Johanna Bonger in April, he takes part in the September Salon of Independents in Paris. In January 1890, he exhibited at the eighth Group of Twenty exhibition in Brussels, where he sold “Red Vineyards at Arles” for the very flattering sum of four hundred francs.

Red vineyards in Arles (1888, State Museum of Fine Arts named after A. S. Pushkin, Moscow)

In the January issue of the Mercure de France magazine in 1890, the first critically enthusiastic article about Van Gogh’s painting “Red Vineyards in Arles” signed by Albert Aurier appeared.

And in March he is again among the participants in the Salon of Independents in Paris, and there Monet speaks highly of his work. In May, his brother writes to Peyron about Vincent’s possible move to Auvers-on-Oise in the vicinity of Paris, where Dr. Gachet, with whom Theo had recently become friends, is ready to treat him. And on May 16, Vincent goes to Paris alone. Here he spends three days with his brother, meets his wife and recently born child - his nephew.

Blooming Almond Trees, (1890)
The reason for painting this picture was the birth of the first child of Theo and his wife Johanna - Vincent Willem. Van Gogh painted almond trees in blossom using decorative compositional techniques in the Japanese style. When the painting was finished, he sent it as a gift to his new parents. Johanna later wrote that the baby was impressed by the sky-blue painting that hung in their bedroom.

Then he travels to Auvers-on-Oise and first stops at the Saint-Aubin hotel, and then settles in the cafe of the Ravoux couple on the square where the municipality is located. In Auvers, he energetically gets to work. Doctor Gachet, who becomes his friend and invites him to his home every Sunday, appreciates Vincent's painting and, being an amateur artist, introduces him to the technique of etching.

Portrait of Doctor Gachet. (Auvers, June 1890. Paris, Musée d'Orsay)

In the numerous paintings Van Gogh painted during this period, there is an incredible effort of a confused consciousness, yearning for some kind of rules after the extremes that filled his canvases during the difficult year spent in Saint-Rémy. This desire to begin again, in an orderly and calm manner, to control one’s emotions and reproduce them on canvas clearly and harmoniously: in portraits (two versions of “Portrait of Doctor Gachet”, “Portrait of Mademoiselle Gachet at the Piano”, “Two Children”), in landscapes (“ Staircase in Auvers") and in still lifes ("Bouquet of Roses").

Mademoiselle Gachet at the piano. (1890)

Village Street with Figures on Stairs (1890. St. Louis Art Museum, Missouri)

Pink roses. (Overs, June 1890. Copenhagen. Carlsberg Glyptotek)

But in the last two months of his life, the artist hardly manages to drown out the internal conflict that drives him somewhere and suppresses him. Hence such formal contradictions, as in “The Church at Auvers,” where the elegance of the composition is dissonant with a riot of colors, or convulsive, disordered brushstrokes, as in “A Flock of Crows over a Grain Field,” where a gloomy omen of imminent death slowly hovers.

Church in Auvers. (Auvers, June 1890. Paris, France, Musée d'Orsay)

Wheatfield with Crows (1890, Vincent Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam)
In the last week of his life, Van Gogh painted his last and famous painting: “Wheat Field with Crows.” It was evidence of the artist's tragic death.
The painting was supposedly completed on July 10, 1890, 19 days before his death in Auvers-sur-Oise. There is a version that Van Gogh committed suicide in the process of painting this painting; This version of the end of the artist's life was presented in the film Lust for Life, where the actor playing Van Gogh (Kirk Douglas) shoots himself in the head in a field while completing work on the canvas. However, there is no evidence to support this theory. For a long time it was believed that this was Van Gogh's last work, but research into Van Gogh's letters suggests with a high degree of probability that the artist's last work was the painting "Wheat Fields", although there is still ambiguity on this issue

By that time, Vincent is already completely possessed by the devil, who breaks out more and more often. In July, he is very worried about family problems: Theo has financial difficulties and poor health (he will die a few months after Vincent, on January 25, 1891), and his nephew is not entirely well.

Added to these worries is the disappointment that his brother will not be able to spend the summer holidays in Auvers, as he promised. And so on July 27, Van Gogh leaves home and goes to the fields to work plein air.

Upon his return, after persistent questioning by the Ravu couple, concerned about his depressed appearance, he admits that he shot himself with a pistol, which he allegedly bought to scare away flocks of birds while working in the open air (the weapon will never be found).

Dr. Gachet arrives urgently and immediately informs Theo of what happened. His brother rushes to his aid, but Vincent’s fate is already sealed: he dies on the night of July 29 at the age of thirty-seven, 29 hours after being wounded, from loss of blood (at 1:30 a.m. on July 29, 1890). Van Gogh's earthly life ended - and the legend of Van Gogh, the last truly great artist on planet Earth, began.

Van Gogh on his deathbed." Drawing by Paul Gachet.

According to brother Theo, who was with Vincent in his dying moments, the artist’s last words were: La tristesse durera toujours (“Sadness will last forever”). Vincent van Gogh was buried in Auvers-sur-Oise. 25 years later (in 1914), the remains of his brother Theo were buried next to his grave.

In October 2011, an alternative version of the artist’s death appeared. American art historians Steven Nayfeh and Gregory White Smith have suggested that Van Gogh was shot by one of the teenagers who regularly accompanied him in drinking establishments

Vincent Van Gogh is a Dutch artist, one of the brightest representatives of post-impressionism. He worked a lot and fruitfully: in just over ten years he created such a number of works that no other famous painter had ever produced. He painted portraits and self-portraits, landscapes and still lifes, cypress trees, wheat fields and sunflowers.

The artist was born near the southern border of the Netherlands in the village of Grot-Zundert. This event in the family of Pastor Theodore van Gogh and his wife Anna Cornelia Carbentus occurred on March 30, 1853. In total, there were six children in the Van Gogh family. Younger brother Theo helped Vincent throughout his life and took an active part in his difficult fate.

In the family, Vincent was a difficult, disobedient child with some oddities, so he was often punished. Outside the house, on the contrary, he looked thoughtful, serious and quiet. He hardly played with children. His fellow villagers considered him a modest, sweet, friendly and compassionate child. At the age of 7 he was sent to a village school, a year later he was taken from there and taught at home, in the fall of 1864 the boy was taken to a boarding school in Zevenbergen.

Departure hurts the boy's soul and causes him a lot of suffering. In 1866 he was transferred to another boarding school. Vincent is good at languages, and here he also gains his first drawing skills. In 1868, in the middle of the school year, he left school and went home. His education ends here. He remembers his childhood as something cold and gloomy.

Traditionally, generations of Van Goghs realized themselves in two areas of activity: painting paintings and church activities. Vincent will try himself both as a preacher and as a merchant, giving his all to the work. Having achieved certain successes, he abandons both, consecrating his life and his whole self to painting.

Carier start

In 1868, a fifteen-year-old boy entered the branch of the art company Gupil and Co. in The Hague. For good work and curiosity, he is sent to the London branch. During the two years that Vincent spent in London, he becomes a real businessman and connoisseur of engravings by English masters, quotes Dickens and Eliot, and a gloss appears in him. Van Gogh faced the prospect of a brilliant commission agent in the central branch of Goupil in Paris, where he was supposed to move.

Pages from the book of letters to brother Theo

In 1875, events occurred that changed his life. In a letter to Theo, he calls his condition “painful loneliness.” Researchers of the artist's biography suggest that the reason for this state is rejected love. It is not known exactly who the object of this love was. It is possible that this version is incorrect. A transfer to Paris did not help change the situation. He lost interest in Goupil and was fired.

Theology and missionary activity

In his search for himself, Vincent affirms his religious destiny. In 1877, he moved to his uncle Johannes in Amsterdam and prepared to enter the Faculty of Theology. He gets disappointed in his studies, quits classes and leaves. The desire to serve people leads him to a missionary school. In 1879, he received a position as a preacher in Wham in the south of Belgium.

He teaches the Law of God at the miners' center in Borinage, helps the families of miners, visits the sick, teaches children, reads sermons, and draws maps of Palestine to earn money. He lives in a miserable shack, eats water and bread, sleeps on the floor, physically torturing himself. In addition, it helps workers defend their rights.

Local authorities remove him from his post, as they do not accept vigorous activity and extremes. During this period, he painted a lot of miners, their wives and children.

Becoming an artist

To escape the depression associated with the events in Paturage, Van Gogh turned to painting. Brother Theo befriends him and he attends the Academy of Fine Arts. But after a year he dropped out of school and went to his parents, continuing to study on his own.

Falls in love again. This time to my cousin. His feelings do not find an answer, but he continues his courtship, which irritates his relatives, who asked him to leave. Due to a new shock, he abandons his personal life and leaves for The Hague to take up painting. Here he takes lessons from Anton Mauve, works a lot, observes city life, mainly in poor neighborhoods. Studying “Drawing Course” by Charles Bargue, copying lithographs. Masters mixing various techniques on canvas, achieving interesting color shades in his works.

Once again he tries to start a family with a pregnant street woman whom he meets on the street. A woman with children moves in with him and becomes a model for the artist. Because of this, he quarrels with relatives and friends. Vincent himself feels happy, but not for long. The difficult character of his cohabitant turned his life into a nightmare, and they separated.

The artist goes to the province of Drenthe in the north of the Netherlands, lives in a hut, which he equipped as a workshop, paints landscapes, peasants, scenes from their work and life. Van Gogh's early works, with reservations, can be called realistic. The lack of academic education affected his drawings and inaccurate depictions of human figures.

From Drenthe he moves to his parents in Nuenen and draws a lot. Hundreds of drawings and paintings were created during this period. Along with his creativity, he paints with his students, reads a lot and takes music lessons. The themes of the works of the Dutch period are simple people and scenes, painted in an expressive manner with a predominance of a dark palette, gloomy and dull tones. The masterpieces of this period include the painting “The Potato Eaters” (1885), depicting a scene from the life of peasants.

Parisian period

After much deliberation, Vincent decides to live and create in Paris, where he moves at the end of February 1886. Here he meets his brother Theo, who has risen to the rank of director of an art gallery. The artistic life of the French capital of this period was in full swing.

A significant event is the Impressionist exhibition on Rue Lafitte. For the first time, Signac and Seurat, who led the post-impressionism movement, which marked the final stage of impressionism, are exhibiting there. Impressionism is a revolution in art that changed the approach to painting, displacing academic techniques and subjects. The first impression and pure colors are of paramount importance, and preference is given to plein air painting.

In Paris, Van Gogh's brother Theo takes care of him, settles him in his house, and introduces him to artists. In the studio of the traditionalist artist Fernand Cormon, he met Toulouse-Lautrec, Emile Bernard and Louis Anquetin. He is greatly impressed by the paintings of the Impressionists and Post-Impressionists. In Paris, he became addicted to absinthe and even painted a still life on this topic.

Painting "Still life with absinthe"

The Parisian period (1886-1888) turned out to be the most fruitful; the collection of his works was replenished with 230 canvases. It was a time of searching for technology, studying innovative trends in modern painting. He develops a new view of painting. The realistic approach is replaced by a new manner, gravitating towards impressionism and post-impressionism, which is reflected in his still lifes with flowers and landscapes.

His brother introduces him to the most prominent representatives of this movement: Camille Pissarro, Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir and others. He often goes out plein air with his artist friends. His palette gradually brightens, becomes brighter, and over time turns into a riot of colors, characteristic of his work in recent years.

Fragment of the painting “Agostina Segatori in a cafe”

In Paris, Van Gogh communicates a lot, visiting the same places where his brothers go. In "Tambourine" he even starts a small affair with its owner Agostina Segatori, who once posed for Degas. From it he paints a portrait at a table in a cafe and several works in the nude style. Another meeting place was Papa Tanga's shop, where paints and other materials for artists were sold. Here, as in many other similar institutions, artists exhibited their works.

A group of Small Boulevards is being formed, which includes Van Gogh and his comrades, who have not reached such heights as the masters of the Grand Boulevards - more famous and recognized. The spirit of competition and tension that reigned in Parisian society at that time became unbearable for the impulsive and uncompromising artist. He gets into arguments, quarrels and decides to leave the capital.

Severed ear

In February 1888, he goes to Provence and becomes attached to it with all his soul. Theo sponsors his brother, sending him 250 francs a month. In gratitude, Vincent sends his paintings to his brother. He rents four rooms in a hotel, eats in a cafe, the owners of which become his friends and pose for pictures.

With the arrival of spring, the artist is captivated by flowering trees pierced by the southern sun. He is delighted with the bright colors and transparency of the air. The ideas of impressionism are gradually disappearing, but loyalty to the light palette and plein air painting remains. The color yellow predominates in the works, acquiring a special radiance coming from the depths.

Vincent Van Gogh. Self-portrait with severed ear

To work plein air at night, he attaches candles to his hat and sketchbook, illuminating his workspace in this way. This is exactly how his paintings “Starry Night over the Rhone” and “Night Cafe” were painted. An important event was the arrival of Paul Gauguin, whom Vincent repeatedly invited to Arles. An enthusiastic and fruitful life together ends in quarrel and breakup. Self-confident, pedantic Gauguin was the complete opposite of the disorganized and restless Van Gogh.

The epilogue to this story is the stormy showdown before Christmas 1888, when Vincent cut off his ear. Gauguin, afraid that they were going to attack him, hid in the hotel. Vincent wrapped his bloody earlobe in paper and sent it to their mutual friend, the prostitute Rachelle. His friend Roulen discovered him in a pool of blood. The wound heals quickly, but his mental health returns him to his hospital bed.

Death

The residents of Arles begin to fear a city dweller who is unlike them. In 1889, they wrote a petition demanding that they be rid of the “red-haired madman.” Vincent realizes the danger of his condition and voluntarily goes to the hospital of St. Paul of Mausoleum in Saint-Rémy. During treatment, he is allowed to pee outside under the supervision of medical staff. This is how his works with characteristic wavy lines and swirls appeared (“Starry Night”, “Road with Cypress Trees and a Star”, etc.).

Painting “Starry Night”

In Saint-Rémy, periods of intense activity are followed by long breaks caused by depression. At the moment of one of the crises, he swallows paint. Despite the increasing exacerbations of the disease, brother Theo promotes his participation in the September Salon of Independents in Paris. In January 1890, Vincent exhibited “Red Vineyards in Arles” and sold them for four hundred francs, which is quite a decent amount. This was the only painting sold during his lifetime.

Painting "Red vineyards in Arles"

His joy was immeasurable. The artist did not stop working. His brother Theo is also inspired by the success of Vineyards. He supplies Vincent with paints, but he begins to eat them. In May 1890, the brother negotiated with the homeopathic therapist Dr. Gachet to treat Vincent in his clinic. The doctor himself is fond of drawing, so he happily takes on the artist’s treatment. Vincent is also attracted to Gasha and sees him as a kind-hearted and optimistic person.

A month later, Van Gogh was allowed to travel to Paris. His brother does not greet him very kindly. He has financial problems and his daughter is very sick. This technique unbalanced Vincent; he realizes that he is becoming, perhaps, and has always been a burden for his brother. Shocked, he returns to the clinic.

Fragment of the painting “Road with Cypresses and a Star”

On July 27, as usual, he goes out into the open air, but returns not with sketches, but with a bullet in his chest. The bullet he fired from the pistol hit the rib and went away from the heart. The artist himself returned to the shelter and went to bed. Lying in bed, he calmly smoked his pipe. It seemed that the wound did not cause him pain.

Gachet summoned Theo by telegram. He immediately arrived and began to reassure his brother that they would help him, that he did not need to give in to despair. The response was the phrase: “Sadness will last forever.” The artist died on July 29, 1890 at half past one in the morning. He was buried in the town of Mary on July 30.

Many of his artist friends came to say goodbye to the artist. The walls of the room were hung with his latest paintings. Doctor Gachet wanted to make a speech, but he cried so much that he was able to utter only a few words, the essence of which was that Vincent was a great artist and an honest man, that art, which was above all for him, would repay him and perpetuate his name .

The artist's brother Theo Van Gogh died six months later. He did not forgive himself for the quarrel with his brother. His despair, which he shares with his mother, becomes unbearable, and he suffers from a nervous breakdown. This is what he wrote in a letter to his mother after his brother’s death:

“It is impossible to describe my grief, just as it is impossible to find consolation. This is a grief that will last and from which I will certainly never be freed as long as I live. The only thing that can be said is that he himself found the peace he was striving for... Life was such a heavy burden for him, but now, as often happens, everyone praises his talents... Oh, mom! He was so mine, my own brother.”

Theo Van Gogh, brother of the artist

And this is Vincent’s last letter, written after a quarrel:

“It seems to me that since everyone is a little on edge 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."

In 1914, Theo's remains were reburied by his widow next to Vincent's grave.

Personal life

One of the reasons for Van Gogh’s mental illness could be his failed personal life; he never found a life partner. The first attack of despair occurred after the refusal of the daughter of his housewife Ursula Loyer, with whom he had been secretly in love for a long time. The proposal came unexpectedly, shocked the girl, and she rudely refused.

History repeated itself with widowed cousin Key Stricker Voe, but this time Vincent decides not to give up. The woman does not accept advances. On his third visit to his beloved’s relatives, he puts his hand into the flame of a candle, promising to hold it there until she gives her consent to become his wife. With this act, he finally convinced the girl’s father that he was dealing with a mentally ill person. They did not stand on ceremony with him anymore and simply escorted him out of the house.

Sexual dissatisfaction was reflected in his nervous state. Vincent begins to like prostitutes, especially those who are not very young and not very beautiful, whom he could raise. Soon he chooses a pregnant prostitute, who moves in with his 5-year-old daughter. After the birth of his son, Vincent becomes attached to the children and considers getting married.

The woman posed for the artist and lived with him for about a year. Because of her, he had to be treated for gonorrhea. The relationship deteriorated completely when the artist saw how cynical, cruel, sloppy and unbridled she was. After the separation, the lady indulged in her previous activities, and Van Gogh left The Hague.

Margot Begemann in her youth and adulthood

In recent years, Vincent has been stalked by a 41-year-old woman named Margot Begemann. She was the artist's neighbor in Nuenen and really wanted to get married. Van Gogh, rather out of pity, agrees to marry her. The parents did not give consent to this marriage. Margot almost committed suicide, but Van Gogh saved her. In the subsequent period, he has many promiscuous relationships, he visits brothels and from time to time he is treated for sexually transmitted diseases.

Everyone knows the Dutch painter. His difficult fate was reflected in his paintings, the fame of which came only after the artist’s death. He created more than 200 paintings and more than 500 drawings, carefully preserved by his brother, and later by his wife and nephew, and deposited in the museum. Van Gogh lived a short life, but many interesting stories happened in his life that are passed down from generation to generation.

Story about the ear

The most interesting story that excites the minds of contemporaries is about severed ear. But it is reliably known that the artist cut off only his earlobe. What prompted him to do this? And how did it really all happen? The most reliable version is that during a quarrel with the French painter Gauguin, Van Gogh attacked him with a razor. But Gauguin turned out to be more resourceful and managed to stop him.


The quarrel occurred over a woman, and a worried Van Gogh cut off his own earlobe that same night. The artist gave the cut lobe to this woman - she was a prostitute. This event occurred at a moment of madness from frequent use of absinthe - a tincture of bitter wormwood, with large consumption of which hallucinations, aggressiveness, and changes in consciousness occur.

Two Births of Van Gogh

The Dutch pastor had his first child in 1852, named Vincent, but he died a few weeks later. And a year later, on March 30, 1953, a boy was born again, whom they also decided to name Vincent Van Gogh.

Understanding life

Working in different places and constantly observing the difficult lot of the poor, the son of a Protestant pastor decided to also become a priest and celebrate masses in favor of the poor. He helped the poor, cared for the sick, taught children, and painted at night to earn money. The artist decided to write a petition to improve working conditions for the poor, but he was refused. He realized that preaching had no role in combating the plight of the poor. The young priest leaves home, distributes all his savings to those in need, and as a result he is deprived of the priesthood. All this affected the artist’s mental state and subsequently decided Van Gogh’s entire fate.

Van Gogh's inspiration

French artist turned out to be Van Gogh's inspiration Millet, who in his paintings depicted the difficult lot of the poor, their work and difficult situation in society. Van Gogh painted from Millet's black and white drawings, conveying his own vision into them. The difference is that Van Gogh's paintings are bright and expressive, in contrast to the melancholy works of Millet. Van Gogh represented the life of the poor as they saw themselves, their attitude to work is what ensures their life, as an admiration for the hard lot that contributes to their existence. Their faces express gratitude to the land that produced the harvest. Gratitude for the harvest that now lies on their table.

Extraordinary vision of color

Van Gogh managed to mix colors on his canvases as no one else had done before. He mixed warm colors with cold ones, basic ones with additional ones, and achieved amazing effects. The main shade of his paintings is yellow. Yellow field, yellow sun, yellow hat, yellow flowers. Yellow color expresses energy, excitement, creative inspiration. Surrounding himself with yellow, he tried to escape from life's troubles and paint life in bright colors. They say that when drinking absinthe, a person sees the world as if through a yellow prism. This may be why its yellow color is even brighter than regular yellow.
Yellow was combined with blue, purple, blue-black. A strange combination - a combination of madness.

Sunflowers in Van Gogh's painting

The artist created 10 paintings with sunflowers. They are in a vase: three, twelve, five, cut sunflowers, sunflowers with roses. 10 paintings have been proven to authentically belong to the painter; another painting has not been confirmed; it is believed that it is a copy. From letters to his brother it is known that Van Gogh loved sunflowers and considered them his flowers. The yellow sunflower represents friendship and hope. He wanted to decorate the inside of the “yellow house” with them. Since there were very white walls, which he complained to brother Theo about.

Friendship with brother

Van Gogh had five brothers and sisters, but he only maintained relationships and was friends with his brother Theo. They corresponded and exchanged information. More than 900 letters from the artist have been found, and most of them are addressed to his brother. Theo helped him with money. At the time of his serious condition, he admitted him to the clinic. He was with him in the last days of his life.

Attitude to family life

Having experienced disappointment in love, Van Gogh decides for himself that the artist should devote himself to painting. And that’s why he uses random connections.

"Starlight Night"

In a state of severe depression, the artist went to a psychiatric clinic, where he was assigned a room. And there he painted his paintings. There he created one of the most recognizable paintings " Starlight Night" Characterizing the color scheme and the quality of the strokes, it is confirmed that the picture was painted by a person experiencing loneliness, vulnerable, with mood swings to depression. He painted the picture from memory, which is rare for his style, and confirms his serious condition.

Painter's illness

Multiple scientific studies have never provided a medical conclusion about Van Gogh's illness. They claimed that he had epilepsy or schizophrenia, but there was no medical confirmation of this. His aunt suffered from epilepsy, and his sister suffered from schizophrenia. The answer is increasingly being confirmed in the artist’s constant depression. He was depressed by the hard work of the miners, he was worried about the hard lot of the plowmen, and that he could not help them in any way.

Van Gogh's suicide

Van Gogh committed suicide - he shot himself in the heart with a revolver. The bullet missed his heart, and he came home and went to bed. He lived two more days and died at the age of 37, without waiting for recognition of his work. During the funeral, only a few people followed the coffin.