Vincent van GoghVincent van Gogh

vincent van gogh

vincent van gogh

Birth name: Vincent Willem van Gogh

Born: 30 March 1853NETHERLANDS

DIED: 29 JULY 1890FRANCE

Birth name: Vincent Willem van Gogh

Born: 30 March 1853NETHERLANDS

DIED: 29 JULY 1890FRANCE

early life

• Son of a pastor, brought up in a religious and cultured atmosphere

• Father was a minister of the Dutch Reformed Church

• As a child, Van Gogh was serious, silent, highly emotional and lacked confidence

• Obtained a position with the art dealer Goupil & Cie in The Hague through his Uncle

• He wanted to be a pastor, so his family sent him to Amsterdam in May 1877 (Lived with his uncle Jan van Gogh)

• Vincent failed at his studies and had to abandon them

Influences

• Theodorus (Theo) van Gogh: Vincent's younger brother who worked as an art dealer and was Vincent's closest friend

• Johanna Gesina van Gogh (Bonger): Theo's wife. Johanna was the first to publish the letters Vincent wrote to Theo after his death

• Anna Cornelia van Gogh: Vincent's Mother

• Theodorus van Gogh: Vincent’s Father.

• Cornelia Adriana Vos-Stricker: Vincent's widowed cousin who he fell in love with in the summer of 1881 in Etten. Still grieving the loss of her husband Cornelia rejected Vincent and returned to Amsterdam.

• Dr. Félix Rey: Doctor who treated Van Gogh in Arles after he cut off part of his left ear lobe.

facts

• close friends with Paul Gauguin

• had mental issues

• Vincent’s brother Theo died six months after Vincent and is buried next to him

• in a short period of ten years Van Gogh made approximately 900 paintings

• Vincent only sold one painting during his lifetime

• Vincent van Gogh did not cut off his ear but he did cut off a small portion of his ear lobe

Work

• Van Gogh drew and painted water-colors while he went to school

• When Theo (Vincent’s brother) said that Vincent’s art works lacked liveliness and freshness, Vincent destroyed them and turned to oil painting.

• In spring 1883, Vincent went to renowned Hague School

• Later, he went to Paris to improve on techniques and also to join this brother, Theo

• Met Pissarro, Monet and Gauguin

• Impressionists

• Often Van Gogh painted the view from his window

• Post Impressionism

post impressionism

“Post-Impressionists extended Impressionism while rejecting its limitations: they continued using vivid colours, thick application of paint, distinctive brushstrokes and real-life subject matter, but they were more inclined to emphasize geometric forms, to distort form for expressive effect, and to use unnatural or arbitrary colour.”

from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-Impressionism

Mental Illness

• The last few years of life mental problems afflicted him

• He cut off the lobe of his left ear and over 150 psychiatrists have been attempted to label his illness but did not succeed.

• Diagnoses have been put such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and syphilis

• He also was poisoned by swallowing paints that he used.

• The paint were lead based, which leads to lead poisoning and results in swelling of the retina

Death

• Van Gogh committed suicide.

• His depression deepened, and on 27th July 1890, at the age of 37 he walked into the fields and shot himself in the chest.

• Without realizing that he was fatally wounded, he went back to the Ravoux Inn where he dies in his bed two days later

TIME LINE

from http://www.vangoghgallery.com/misc/time.html

works

Vase with twelve sunflowers

The potato eaters

Wheatfield With Cypresses

WORKS

Almond Branches in Bloom

The Café Terrace on the Place du Forum, Arles, at Night

Starry Night over the Rhone

WORKS

IrisesA Vase of Roses

The Bedroom at Arles

works (Self-Portrait)

Self-Portrait with Straw Hat (1887)

Self-Portrait in Front of the Easel (1888)

Self-Portrait (Dedicated to Paul Gauguin) (1888)

Self-Portrait (1889)

Quotes

• I often think that the night is more alive and more richly colored than the day.

• I put my heart and my soul into my work, and have lost my mind in the process.

• Happiness... it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort.

• How can I be useful, of what service can I be? There is something inside me, what can it be?

• I am still far from being what I want to be, but with God's help I shall succeed.

Works cited

• http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/v/vincent_van_gogh.html

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vincent_van_Gogh

• http://www.vangoghgallery.com

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-Impressionism