Vincent van Gogh

Introduction

Vincent van Gogh (March 30, 1853 - July 29, 1890), generally considered the most after the Dutch painter Rembrandt, though he has not had much success during his lifetime. Van Gogh produced all of his work (some 900 paintings and 1100 drawings) during a period of 10 years before he succumbed to mental illness (possibly bipolar disorder) and committed suicide (Callow 2000 259). His fame grew rapidly after his death, especially after showing 71 paintings by Van Gogh in Paris on 17 March 1901 (11 years after his death).

Life

Vincent was born in Zundert, Netherlands, his father was a Protestant minister, a profession that Vincent found appealing and to which he will be drawn to some extent later in his life. His sister recounted him as a grave and introspective child.

In 1880, Vincent Van Gogh followed the suggestion of his brother Theo and took up painting seriously (Fell 2005 211). For a brief time span Vincent took painting classes from Anton Mauve at The Hague. Although Vicent and Anton will soon split into the difference of artistic views, influences of the Hague School of painting would remain in Vincent's work, particularly in how he played with the light and the weakness of his brush strokes. However, his use of color in favor of dark tones, set him apart from his teacher.

Impressed and influenced by Jean-François Millet, van Gogh is focused on painting peasants and rural scenes. He moved to the Dutch province of Drenthe, later Nuenen, North Brabant and the Netherlands. Here he wrote in 1885.

In winter 1885-1886 Van Gogh attended Academy of Art in Antwerp, Belgium. It was disappointing when he was sacked after a few months of his professor. Van Gogh nevertheless came into contact with Japanese art during this period that he began to look. He admired its bright colors, use of canvas space and the role played in the movie line (Hanson 2002 145). These effects would influence him strongly. Van Gogh made some paintings in Japanese style. In addition, some portraits he wrote set in the background, which shows Japanese art.

In the spring of 1886 Vincent van Gogh went to Paris, where he moved to his brother Theo, they lived in a house on Montmartre. Here he became acquainted with the artists met Edgar Degas, Camille Pissarro, Bernard, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and Paul Gauguin. He discovered impressionism and liked its use of light and color ...