Vincent van Gogh

Un article de Vev.

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Vincent Willem van Gogh (30 March 1853 – 29 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist artist.<ref>Rewald, John. Post-Impressionism: From van Gogh to Gauguin, revised edition, Secker & Warburg 1978, ISBN 0-436-41151-2</ref> His paintings and drawings include some of the world's best known, most popular and most expensive pieces.

Van Gogh spent his early adult life working for a firm of art dealers. After a brief spell as a teacher, he became a missionary worker in a very poor mining region. He did not embark upon a career as an artist until 1880. Initially, van Gogh worked only with sombre colours, until he encountered Impressionism and Neo-Impressionism in Paris. He incorporated their brighter colours and style of painting into a uniquely recognizable style, which was fully developed during the time he spent at Arles, France. He produced more than 2,000 works, including around 900 paintings and 1,100 drawings and sketches, during the last ten years of his life. Most of his best-known works were produced in the final two years of his life, during which time he cut off part of his left ear following a breakdown in his friendship with Paul Gauguin. After this he suffered recurrent bouts of mental illness, which led to his suicide.

The central figure in Van Gogh's life was his brother Theo, who continually and selflessly provided financial support. Their lifelong friendship is documented in numerous letters they exchanged from August 1872 onwards. Van Gogh is a pioneer of what came to be known as Expressionism. He had an enormous influence on 20th century art, especially on the Fauves and German Expressionists.

The Dutch pronunciation of Vincent van Gogh's name is Modèle:IPAudio. It is also often pronounced as [ˈvɪnsənt væn ˈɡɒf] or [ˈvɪnsənt vɑn ˈɡɔx] in British English and [ˈvɪnsənt væn ˈɡoʊ] in US English.

Sommaire 1 Biography 1.1 Early life (1853 – 1869) 1.2 Art dealer and preacher (1869 – 1878) 1.3 Borinage and Brussels (1879 – 1880) 1.4 Etten (1881) 1.5 Drenthe and The Hague (1881 – 1883) 1.6 Nuenen (1883 – 1885) 1.7 Antwerpen (1885 – 1886) 1.8 Paris (1886 – 1888) 1.9 Arles (February 1888 – May 1889) 1.10 Saint-Rémy (May 1889 – May 1890) 1.11 Auvers-sur-Oise (May – July 1890) 2 Medical records 3 Work 4 Legacy 5 Gallery 6 Sources 7 Notes 8 External links

Biography

For a timeline, see Vincent van Gogh chronology.

Early life (1853 – 1869)

www.arthistoryarchive.com/arthistory/expressionism/Vincent-Van-Gogh.html Vincent Van Gogh - Biography, Quotes & Paintings], retrieved June 14 2007.</ref> Van Gogh was the son of Anna Cornelia Carbentus and Theodorus van Gogh, who was a minister of the Dutch Reformed Church. He was given the same name as his grandfather—and a first brother stillborn exactly one year before. It has been suggested<ref>Lubin, Albert J. Stranger on the earth: A psychological biography of Vincent van Gogh, Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1972. ISBN 0-03-091352-7. pages 82–84</ref> that being given the same name as his dead elder brother might have had a deep psychological impact on the young artist, and that elements of his art, such as the portrayal of pairs of male figures, can be traced back to this. The practice of reusing a name in this way was not uncommon. The name "Vincent" was often used in the Van Gogh family: the baby's grandfather was called Vincent van Gogh (1789-1874); he had received his degree of theology at the University of Leiden in 1811. Grandfather Vincent had six sons, three of whom became art dealers, including another Vincent, referred to in Van Gogh's letters as "Uncle Cent." Grandfather Vincent had perhaps been named after his own father's uncle, the successful sculptor Vincent van Gogh (1729-1802).<ref name=erickson9> Erickson, page 9.</ref> Art and religion were the two occupations to which the Van Gogh family gravitated.//www.arthistoryarchive.com/arthistory/expressionism/Vincent-Van-Gogh.html Vincent Van Gogh - Biography, Quotes & Paintings], retrieved June 14 2007.</ref> Van Gogh was the son of Anna Cornelia Carbentus and Theodorus van Gogh, who was a minister of the Dutch Reformed Church. He was given the same name as his grandfather—and a first brother stillborn exactly one year before. It has been suggested<ref>Lubin, Albert J. Stranger on the earth: A psychological biography of Vincent van Gogh, Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1972. ISBN 0-03-091352-7. pages 82–84</ref> that being given the same name as his dead elder brother might have had a deep psychological impact on the young artist, and that elements of his art, such as the portrayal of pairs of male figures, can be traced back to this. The practice of reusing a name in this way was not uncommon. The name "Vincent" was often used in the Van Gogh family: the baby's grandfather was called Vincent van Gogh (1789-1874); he had received his degree of theology at the University of Leiden in 1811. Grandfather Vincent had six sons, three of whom became art dealers, including another Vincent, referred to in Van Gogh's letters as "Uncle Cent." Grandfather Vincent had perhaps been named after his own father's uncle, the successful sculptor Vincent van Gogh (1729-1802).<ref name=erickson9> Erickson, page 9.</ref> Art and religion were the two occupations to which the Van Gogh family gravitated.

webexhibits.org/vangogh/letter/14/347.htm|title= Letter from Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh - Nuenen, c. 18 December 1883}}</ref>//webexhibits.org/vangogh/letter/14/347.htm|title= Letter from Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh - Nuenen, c. 18 December 1883}}</ref>

Art dealer and preacher (1869 – 1878)

In July 1869, at the age of fifteen, he obtained a position with the art dealer Goupil & Cie in The Hague through his Uncle Vincent ("Cent"), who had built up a good business which became a branch of the firm. After his training, Goupil transferred him to London in June 1873, where he lodged at 87 Hackford Road, Brixton<ref>You must specify title = and url = when using {{cite web}}.

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. Retrieved on 2007-03-24. </ref> This was a happy time for Van Gogh: he was successful at work, and was already, at the age of 20, earning more than his father.<ref>Theo's wife later remarked that this was the happiest year of Vincent's life. Wilkie, pages 34-36</ref> He fell in love with his landlady's daughter, Eugénie Loyer,<ref>Wilkie, pages 38 - 52</ref> but when he finally confessed his feeling to her, she rejected him, saying that she was already secretly engaged to a previous lodger. Vincent became increasingly isolated and fervent about religion. His father and uncle sent him to Paris, where he became resentful at how art was treated as a commodity, and he manifested this to the customers. On 1 April 1876, it was agreed that his employment should be terminated.

His religious emotion grew to the point where he felt he had found his true vocation in life, and he returned to England to do unpaid work, first as a supply teacher in a small boarding school overlooking the harbour in Ramsgate; he made some sketches of the view. The proprietor of the school relocated to Isleworth, Middlesex. Vincent decided to walk to the new location. This new position did not work out, and Vincent became a nearby Methodist minister's assistant in wanting to "preach the gospel everywhere."

webexhibits.org/vangogh/letter/5/etc-94a.htm M. J. Brusse], Nieuwe Rotterdamsche Courant, May 26 and June 2, 1914.</ref><ref>"he would not eat meat, only a little morsel on Sundays, and then only after being urged by our landlady for a long time. Four potatoes with a suspicion of gravy and a mouthful of vegetables constituted his whole dinner"— from a letter to Frederik van Eeden, to help him with preparation for his article on Van Gogh in De Nieuwe Gids (issue 1 December, 1890), quoted in Van Gogh: A Self-Portrait; Letters Revealing His Life as a Painter, selected by W. H. Auden, New York Graphic Society, Greenwich, CT. 1961. See pages 37 – 39.</ref> In an effort to support his wish to become a pastor, his family sent him to Amsterdam in May 1877 where he lived with his uncle Jan van Gogh, a rear admiral in the navy.<ref>Erickson page 23</ref> Vincent prepared for university, studying for the theology entrance exam with his uncle Johannes Stricker, a respected theologian who published the first "Life of Jesus" available in the Netherlands. Vincent failed at his studies and had to abandon them. He left uncle Jan's house in July 1878. He then studied, but failed, a three-month course at the Protestant missionary school (Vlaamsche Opleidingsschool) in Laeken, near Brussels.//webexhibits.org/vangogh/letter/5/etc-94a.htm M. J. Brusse], Nieuwe Rotterdamsche Courant, May 26 and June 2, 1914.</ref><ref>"he would not eat meat, only a little morsel on Sundays, and then only after being urged by our landlady for a long time. Four potatoes with a suspicion of gravy and a mouthful of vegetables constituted his whole dinner"— from a letter to Frederik van Eeden, to help him with preparation for his article on Van Gogh in De Nieuwe Gids (issue 1 December, 1890), quoted in Van Gogh: A Self-Portrait; Letters Revealing His Life as a Painter, selected by W. H. Auden, New York Graphic Society, Greenwich, CT. 1961. See pages 37 – 39.</ref> In an effort to support his wish to become a pastor, his family sent him to Amsterdam in May 1877 where he lived with his uncle Jan van Gogh, a rear admiral in the navy.<ref>Erickson page 23</ref> Vincent prepared for university, studying for the theology entrance exam with his uncle Johannes Stricker, a respected theologian who published the first "Life of Jesus" available in the Netherlands. Vincent failed at his studies and had to abandon them. He left uncle Jan's house in July 1878. He then studied, but failed, a three-month course at the Protestant missionary school (Vlaamsche Opleidingsschool) in Laeken, near Brussels.

Borinage and Brussels (1879 – 1880)

webexhibits.org/vangogh/letter/8/129.htm 129], April 1879, and Letter 132. Van Gogh lodged in Wasmes, at 22 rue de Wilson, with Jean-Baptiste Denis, a breeder or grower ('cultivateur', in the French original) according to Letter 553b. In the recollections of his nephew Jean Richez, gathered by Wilkie (in the 1970s!), page 72-78, Denis and his wife Esther were running a bakery, and Richez admits that the only source of his knowledge is Aunt Esther.</ref> in the coal-mining district of Borinage in Belgium, bringing his father's profession to people felt to be the most wretched and hopeless in Europe. Taking Christianity to what he saw as its logical conclusion, Vincent opted to live like those he preached to, sharing their hardships to the extent of sleeping on straw in a small hut at the back of the baker's house where he was billeted;<ref>Wilkie page 75</ref> the baker's wife used to hear Vincent sobbing all night in the little hut.<ref>Wilkie, page 77</ref> His choice of squalid living conditions did not endear him to the appalled church authorities, who dismissed him for "undermining the dignity of the priesthood." After this he walked to Brussels,<ref>Letter from mother to Theo, 7 August 1879 and Callow, work cited, page 72</ref> returned briefly to the Borinage, to the village of Cuesmes, but acquiesced to pressure from his parents to come "home" to Etten. He stayed there until around March the following year,<ref>there are different views as to this period; Jan Hulsker in Vincent and Theo van Gogh, a dual biography, Fuller Publications, Ann Arbor, 1990. ISBN 0-940537-05-2 opts for a return to the Borinage and then back to Etten in this period; the forthcoming catalogue for the 2006 Budapest Van Gogh exhibition supports the line taken in this article</ref> to the increasing concern and frustration of his parents. There was considerable conflict between Vincent and his father, and his father made enquiries about having his son committed to a lunatic asylum<ref>Letter 158</ref> at Geel.<ref>see Jan Hulsker's speech The Borinage Episode and the Misrepresentation of Vincent van Gogh, Van Gogh Symposium, 10-11 May 1990, referenced in Erickson, pages 67-68</ref> Vincent fled back to Cuesmes where he lodged with a miner named Charles Decrucq,<ref>Letter 134, dated 20 August 1880 from Cuesmes; also Wilkie, page 79</ref> with whom he stayed until October. He became increasingly interested in the everyday people and scenes around him, which he recorded in drawings.//webexhibits.org/vangogh/letter/8/129.htm 129], April 1879, and Letter 132. Van Gogh lodged in Wasmes, at 22 rue de Wilson, with Jean-Baptiste Denis, a breeder or grower ('cultivateur', in the French original) according to Letter 553b. In the recollections of his nephew Jean Richez, gathered by Wilkie (in the 1970s!), page 72-78, Denis and his wife Esther were running a bakery, and Richez admits that the only source of his knowledge is Aunt Esther.</ref> in the coal-mining district of Borinage in Belgium, bringing his father's profession to people felt to be the most wretched and hopeless in Europe. Taking Christianity to what he saw as its logical conclusion, Vincent opted to live like those he preached to, sharing their hardships to the extent of sleeping on straw in a small hut at the back of the baker's house where he was billeted;<ref>Wilkie page 75</ref> the baker's wife used to hear Vincent sobbing all night in the little hut.<ref>Wilkie, page 77</ref> His choice of squalid living conditions did not endear him to the appalled church authorities, who dismissed him for "undermining the dignity of the priesthood." After this he walked to Brussels,<ref>Letter from mother to Theo, 7 August 1879 and Callow, work cited, page 72</ref> returned briefly to the Borinage, to the village of Cuesmes, but acquiesced to pressure from his parents to come "home" to Etten. He stayed there until around March the following year,<ref>there are different views as to this period; Jan Hulsker in Vincent and Theo van Gogh, a dual biography, Fuller Publications, Ann Arbor, 1990. ISBN 0-940537-05-2 opts for a return to the Borinage and then back to Etten in this period; the forthcoming catalogue for the 2006 Budapest Van Gogh exhibition supports the line taken in this article</ref> to the increasing concern and frustration of his parents. There was considerable conflict between Vincent and his father, and his father made enquiries about having his son committed to a lunatic asylum<ref>Letter 158</ref> at Geel.<ref>see Jan Hulsker's speech The Borinage Episode and the Misrepresentation of Vincent van Gogh, Van Gogh Symposium, 10-11 May 1990, referenced in Erickson, pages 67-68</ref> Vincent fled back to Cuesmes where he lodged with a miner named Charles Decrucq,<ref>Letter 134, dated 20 August 1880 from Cuesmes; also Wilkie, page 79</ref> with whom he stayed until October. He became increasingly interested in the everyday people and scenes around him, which he recorded in drawings.

In 1880, Vincent followed the suggestion of his brother Theo and took up art in earnest. In autumn 1880, he went to Brussels, intending to follow Theo's recommendation to study with the prominent Dutch artist Willem Roelofs, who persuaded Van Gogh (despite his aversion to formal schools of art) to attend the Royal Academy of Art. There he not only studied anatomy, but the standard rules of modelling and perspective, all of which, he said, "you have to know just to be able to draw the least thing." Vincent wished to become an artist while in God's service as he stated, "to try to understand the real significance of what the great artists, the serious masters, tell us in their masterpieces, that leads to God; one man wrote or told it in a book; another in a picture."<ref>You must specify title = and url = when using {{cite web}}.

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Etten (1881)

webexhibits.org/vangogh/letter/10/153.htm 153] to Theo dated 3 November 1881</ref> At the end of November he wrote a strong letter to Uncle Stricker,<ref>Letter 161 to Theo 23 November 1881</ref> and then, very soon after, hurried to Amsterdam where he talked with Stricker again on several occasions,<ref>Letter 164 from Etten c.21 December 1881, describing the visit in more detail</ref> but Kee refused to see him at all. Her parents told him "Your persistence is disgusting".<ref name="Letter193">Letter 193 from Vincent to Theo, The Hague, 14 May 1882</ref> In desperation he held his left hand in the flame of a lamp, saying, "Let me see her for as long as I can keep my hand in the flame."<ref name="Letter193"/> He did not clearly recall what happened next, but assumed that his uncle blew out the flame. Her father, "Uncle Stricker," as Vincent refers to him in letters to Theo, made it clear that there was no question of Vincent and Kee marrying, given Vincent's inability to support himself financially.<ref name=Gayford130> Gayford, work cited, pages 130 – 131</ref> What he saw as the hypocrisy of his uncle and former tutor affected Vincent deeply. At Christmas he quarreled violently with his father, even refusing a gift of money, and immediately left for The Hague.<ref>Letter 166, </ref>//webexhibits.org/vangogh/letter/10/153.htm 153] to Theo dated 3 November 1881</ref> At the end of November he wrote a strong letter to Uncle Stricker,<ref>Letter 161 to Theo 23 November 1881</ref> and then, very soon after, hurried to Amsterdam where he talked with Stricker again on several occasions,<ref>Letter 164 from Etten c.21 December 1881, describing the visit in more detail</ref> but Kee refused to see him at all. Her parents told him "Your persistence is disgusting".<ref name="Letter193">Letter 193 from Vincent to Theo, The Hague, 14 May 1882</ref> In desperation he held his left hand in the flame of a lamp, saying, "Let me see her for as long as I can keep my hand in the flame."<ref name="Letter193"/> He did not clearly recall what happened next, but assumed that his uncle blew out the flame. Her father, "Uncle Stricker," as Vincent refers to him in letters to Theo, made it clear that there was no question of Vincent and Kee marrying, given Vincent's inability to support himself financially.<ref name=Gayford130> Gayford, work cited, pages 130 – 131</ref> What he saw as the hypocrisy of his uncle and former tutor affected Vincent deeply. At Christmas he quarreled violently with his father, even refusing a gift of money, and immediately left for The Hague.<ref>Letter 166, </ref>

Drenthe and The Hague (1881 – 1883)

In January 1882 he settled in The Hague, where he called on his cousin-in-law, the painter Anton Mauve, who encouraged him towards painting. He soon fell out with Mauve, however, perhaps over the issue of drawing from plaster casts; but Mauve appeared suddenly to go cold towards Vincent, not returning a couple of his letters. Vincent guessed that Mauve had learned of his new domestic relationship with the alcoholic prostitute, Clasina Maria Hoornik (born February 1850, The Hague;<ref>Callow, page 116, citing the work of Hulsker</ref> she was known as Sien) and her young daughter.<ref>Callow pages 123 - 124</ref> Van Gogh had met Sien towards the end of January.<ref>Callow page 117</ref> Sien had a five year-old daughter, and was pregnant. She had already had two other children who had died, although Vincent was unaware of this.<ref>Callow, page 116, citing the research of Jan Hulsker; the two dead children were born in 1874 and 1879.</ref> On 2 July, Sien gave birth to a baby boy, Willem.<ref>Wilkie, page 176. Forceps were used in the birth. Baby Willem was 3.42 kg and 53 cm at birth, suggesting conception occurred late August or early September 1881 ... see Wilkie page 201. Vincent had visited The Hague briefly 23 – 26 August where he visited Anton Mauve and viewed the Panorama Mesdag</ref> When Vincent's father discovered the details of this relationship, considerable pressure was put on Vincent<ref>Callow, page 132</ref> to abandon Sien and her children. Vincent was at first defiant in the face of his family's opposition.

webexhibits.org/vangogh/letter/11/203.htm 203], 30 May 1882 (postcard written in English) </ref> In June Vincent spent three weeks in a hospital suffering gonorrhoea.<ref>Letter 2068 or 9 June 1882</ref> In the summer, he began to paint in oil.//webexhibits.org/vangogh/letter/11/203.htm 203], 30 May 1882 (postcard written in English) </ref> In June Vincent spent three weeks in a hospital suffering gonorrhoea.<ref>Letter 2068 or 9 June 1882</ref> In the summer, he began to paint in oil. In autumn 1883, after a year with Sien, he abandoned her and the two children. Vincent had thought of moving the family away from the city, but in the end he made the break.<ref>Arnold, page 38</ref> It is possible that lack of money had pushed Sien back to prostitution; the home had become a less happy one, and Vincent may have felt family life was irreconcilable with his artistic development. When Vincent left, Sien gave her daughter to her mother, and baby Willem to her brother, and moved to Delft and then Antwerp.<ref name="Wilkiepg183">Wilkie, page 183</ref> Willem remembered being taken to visit his mother in Rotterdam at around the age of 12, where his uncle tried to persuade Sien to marry in order to legitimize the child. Willem remembered his mother saying: "But I know who the father is. He was an artist I lived with nearly 20 years ago in The Hague. His name was Van Gogh." She then turned to Willem and said "You are called after him."<ref>Wilkie, page 185</ref> Willem believed himself to be Van Gogh's son, but the timing of the birth makes this unlikely.<ref>Wilkie, page 201</ref> In 1904 Sien drowned herself in the river Scheldt.<ref name="Wilkiepg183"/>

Van Gogh moved to the Dutch province of Drenthe in the north of the Netherlands, and in December, driven by loneliness, to stay with his parents who were by then living in Nuenen, North Brabant, also in the Netherlands.

Nuenen (1883 – 1885)

webexhibits.org/vangogh/letter/15/etc-435a.htm note]</ref> and rapidly<ref>Vincent's nephew noted some reminiscences of local residents in 1949, including the description of the speed of his drawing</ref> sketching the weavers in their cottages. In autumn 1884, a neighbour's daughter, Margot Begemann, ten years older than Vincent, accompanied him constantly on his painting forays and fell in love, which he reciprocated (though less enthusiastically). They agreed to marry, but were opposed by both families. Margot tried to kill herself with strychnine and Vincent rushed her to the hospital.<ref>Wilkie, page 82</ref>//webexhibits.org/vangogh/letter/15/etc-435a.htm note]</ref> and rapidly<ref>Vincent's nephew noted some reminiscences of local residents in 1949, including the description of the speed of his drawing</ref> sketching the weavers in their cottages. In autumn 1884, a neighbour's daughter, Margot Begemann, ten years older than Vincent, accompanied him constantly on his painting forays and fell in love, which he reciprocated (though less enthusiastically). They agreed to marry, but were opposed by both families. Margot tried to kill herself with strychnine and Vincent rushed her to the hospital.<ref>Wilkie, page 82</ref>

On 26 March 1885, Van Gogh's father died of a stroke. Van Gogh grieved deeply. For the first time there was interest from Paris in some of his work. In spring he painted what is now considered his first major work, The Potato Eaters (Dutch De Aardappeleters). In August his work was exhibited for the first time, in the windows of a paint dealer, Leurs, in The Hague. In September he was accused of making one of his young peasant sitters pregnant,<ref>the girl was Gordina de Groot, who died in 1927; she claimed the father was not Van Gogh, but a relative; see Wilkie page 26</ref> and the Catholic village priest forbade villagers from modelling for him.

During his time in Nuenen Van Gogh's palette was of sombre earth tones, particularly dark brown, and he showed no sign of developing the vivid colouration that distinguishes his later, best known work. (When Vincent complained that Theo was not making enough effort to sell his paintings in Paris, Theo replied that they were too dark and not in line with the current style of bright Impressionist paintings.) During his two-year stay in Nuenen, he completed numerous drawings and watercolours, and nearly 200 oil paintings.

Antwerpen (1885 – 1886)

In November 1885 he moved to Antwerpen and rented a little room above a paint dealer's shop in the Rue des Images.<ref name=callow181>Callow, page 181</ref> He had little money and ate poorly, preferring to spend what money his brother Theo sent to him on painting materials and models. Bread, coffee, and tobacco were his staple intake. In February 1886 he wrote to Theo saying that he could only remember eating six hot meals since May of the previous year. His teeth became loose and caused him much pain.<ref name=callow184>Callow, page 184</ref> While in Antwerpen he applied himself to the study of colour theory and spent time looking at work in museums, particularly the work of Peter Paul Rubens, gaining encouragement to broaden his palette to carmine, cobalt and emerald green. He also bought some Japanese Ukiyo-e woodcuts in the docklands, which he imitated and incorporated into the background of some of his paintings.<ref name=hammacher84>Hammacher, page 84</ref> It was while he was living in Antwerpen that Vincent began to drink absinthe heavily.<ref name=callow253>Callow, page 253</ref> He was treated by Dr Cavenaile whose surgery was near the docklands,<ref>Vincent's doctor was Hubertus Amadeus Cavenaile; Wilkie, pages 143-146</ref> possibly for syphilis;<ref>Arnold, page 77. The evidence for syphilis is thin, coming solely from interviews with the grandson of the doctor; see Tralbaut, M. E. Vincent van Gogh, New York, The Alpine Fine Arts Collection, 1981, pages 177-178, and Wilkie, pages 143-146</ref> the treatment of alum irrigations and sitz baths was jotted down by Vincent in one of his notebooks.<ref>van der Wolk, J. The Seven Sketchbooks of Vincent van Gogh: a facsimile edition, Harry Abrams Inc, New York, 1987, pages 104-105</ref>

In January 1886 he matriculated at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Antwerpen, studying painting and drawing. Despite disagreements over his rejection of academic teaching, he nevertheless took the higher-level admission exams. For most of February he was ill, run down by overwork and a poor diet (and excessive smoking).

Paris (1886 – 1888)

In March 1886 he moved to Paris to study at Fernand Cormon's studio, and in May 1886 his mother and sister Wil moved to Breda.<ref>70 of Van Gogh's abandoned paintings were bought by a junk dealer, who burnt some and sold others at very low prices.</ref> The brothers first shared Theo's Rue Laval apartment on Montmartre. In June they took a larger flat at 54 Rue Lepic, further uphill. As there was no longer the need to communicate by letters, less is known about Van Gogh's time in Paris than earlier or later periods of his life.

For some months Vincent worked at Cormon's studio where he frequented the circle of the British-Australian artist John Peter Russell, and met fellow students like Émile Bernard and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, who used to meet at the paint store run by Julien "Père" Tanguy, which was at that time the only place to view works by Paul Cézanne.

www.nationalgallery.org.uk/cgi-bin/WebObjects.dll/CollectionPublisher.woa/wa/content?contentName=GL_Pointillism "Glossary term: Pointillism"], National Gallery. Retrieved 13 September 2007.</ref> (for example, blue and orange), which form vibrant contrasts and enhance each other, when juxtaposed.<ref>"Glossary term: Complimentary colours", National Gallery. Retrieved 13 September 2007.</ref>//www.nationalgallery.org.uk/cgi-bin/WebObjects.dll/CollectionPublisher.woa/wa/content?contentName=GL_Pointillism "Glossary term: Pointillism"], National Gallery. Retrieved 13 September 2007.</ref> (for example, blue and orange), which form vibrant contrasts and enhance each other, when juxtaposed.<ref>"Glossary term: Complimentary colours", National Gallery. Retrieved 13 September 2007.</ref>

In November 1887, Theo and Vincent met and befriended Paul Gauguin, who had just arrived in Paris.<ref>D. Druick & P. Zegers, Van Gogh and Gauguin: The Studio of the South, Thames & Hudson, 2001, page 81; Gayford, work cited, page 50</ref> Towards the end of the year, Vincent arranged an exhibition of paintings by himself, Bernard, Anquetin and (probably) Toulouse-Lautrec in the Restaurant du Chalet, on Montmartre. There, Bernard and Anquetin sold their first painting, and Vincent exchanged work with Gauguin, who soon departed to Pont-Aven. But the discussions on art, artists and their social situation started during this exhibition continued, and expanded to visitors of the show like Pissarro and his son, Signac and Seurat. webexhibits.org/vangogh/letter/18/510.htm 510], Letter 544a</ref>//webexhibits.org/vangogh/letter/18/510.htm 510], Letter 544a</ref>

Arles (February 1888 – May 1889)

Van Gogh arrived on 21 February 1888, at the railroad station in Arles, crossed Place Lamartine, entered the city through the Porte de la Cavalerie, and took quarters a few steps further, at the Hôtel-Restaurant Carrel, 30 Rue Cavalerie. He had ideas of founding a Utopian art colony. His companion for two months was the Danish artist, Christian Mourier-Petersen. In March, he painted local landscapes, using a gridded "perspective frame." Three of his pictures were shown at the annual exhibition of the Société des Artistes Indépendants. In April he was visited by the American painter, Dodge MacKnight, who was resident in Fontvieille nearby.

On 1 May he signed a lease for 15 francs a month to rent the four rooms in the right hand side of the "Yellow House" (so called because its outside walls were yellow) at No. 2 Place Lamartine. The house was unfurnished and had been uninhabited for some time so he was not able to move in straight away. He had been staying at the Hôtel Restaurant Carrel in the Rue de la Cavalerie, just inside the medieval gate to the city, with the old Roman Arena in view. The rate charged by the hotel was 5 francs a week, which Van Gogh regarded as excessive. He disputed the price, and took the case to the local arbitrator who awarded him a twelve franc reduction on his total bill.<ref>Alfred Nemeczek, Van Gogh in Arles, Prestel Verlag, 1999, ISBN 3-7913-2230-3, pages 59 – 61.</ref> On 7 May he moved out of the Hôtel Carrel, and moved into the Café de la Gare.<ref>Gayford, The Yellow House, page 16</ref> He became friends with the proprietors, Joseph and Marie Ginoux. Although the Yellow House had to be furnished before he could fully move in, Van Gogh was able to use it as a studio.<ref name=callow219>Callow, p 219</ref> His major project at this time was a series of paintings intended to form the décoration for the Yellow House.

webexhibits.org/vangogh/letter/18/534.htm 534]; Gayford, page 18</ref> and he finally spent the first night in the still sparsely furnished Yellow House on 17 September.<ref>Letter 537; Nemeczek, page 61</ref>;//webexhibits.org/vangogh/letter/18/534.htm 534]; Gayford, page 18</ref> and he finally spent the first night in the still sparsely furnished Yellow House on 17 September.<ref>Letter 537; Nemeczek, page 61</ref>;

On 23 October Gauguin eventually arrived in Arles, after repeated requests from Van Gogh. During November they painted together. Uncharacteristically, Van Gogh painted some pictures from memory, deferring to Gauguin's ideas in this. Their first joint outdoor painting exercise was conducted at the picturesque Alyscamps.<ref>Martin Gayford, The Yellow House: Van Gogh, Gauguin, and Nine Turbulent Weeks in Arles, Fig Tree, Penguin, 2006. ISBN 0-670-91497-5. See page 61</ref> It was in November that Van Gogh painted The Red Vineyard.

In December the two artists visited Montpellier and viewed works by Courbet and Delacroix in the Museé Fabre. However, their relationship was deteriorating badly. They quarrelled fiercely about art. Van Gogh felt an increasing fear that Gauguin was going to desert him, and what he described as a situation of "excessive tension" reached a crisis point on 23 December 1888, when Van Gogh stalked Gauguin with a razor and then cut off the lower part of his own left ear lobe, which he wrapped in newspaper and gave to a prostitute named Rachel in the local brothel, asking her to "keep this object carefully."<ref>According to Doiteau & Leroy, the diagonal cut removed the lobe and probably a little more.</ref> Gauguin left Arles and did not see Van Gogh again. Van Gogh was hospitalised and in a critical state for a few days. He was immediately visited by Theo (whom Gauguin had notified), as well as Madame Ginoux and frequently by Roulin. In January 1889 Van Gogh returned to the "Yellow House", but spent the following month between hospital and home, suffering from hallucinations and paranoia that he was being poisoned. In March the police closed his house, after a petition by thirty townspeople, who called him fou roux ("the redheaded madman"). Signac visited him in hospital and Van Gogh was allowed home in his company. In April he moved into rooms owned by Dr. Rey, after floods damaged paintings in his own home. On 17 April Theo married Johanna Bonger in Amsterdam.

Saint-Rémy (May 1889 – May 1890)

On 8 May 1889 Van Gogh, accompanied by a carer, the Reverend Salles, committed himself to the mental hospital of Saint-Paul-de-Mausole in a former monastery in Saint Rémy de Provence, a little less than Modèle:Convert/mi from Arles. The monastery was a mile and a half out of the town and was in an area of cornfields, vineyards, and olive trees. The hospital was run by a former naval doctor, Dr. Théophile Peyron, who had no specialist qualifications. Theo van Gogh arranged for his brother to have two small rooms, one for use as a studio, although in reality they were simply adjoining cells with barred windows.<ref name=callow246>Callow, page 246</ref> During his stay there, the clinic and its garden became his main subject. At this time some of his work was characterised by swirls, as in one of his best-known paintings, The Starry Night. He took some short supervised walks, which gave rise to images of cypresses and olive trees, but because of the shortage of subject matter due to his limited access to the outside world, he painted interpretations of Millet's paintings, as well as his own earlier work. In September 1889 he painted two new versions of the Bedroom in Arles, and in February 1890 he painted four portraits of L'Arlésienne (Madame Ginoux), based directly on a charcoal sketch Gauguin had produced when Madame Ginoux had sat for both artists at the beginning of November 1888.<ref>One of these four portraits sold at auction in May 2006 for more than $40 million.</ref>

In January 1890, his work was praised by Albert Aurier in the Mercure de France, and he was called a genius. In February, invited by Les XX, a society of avant-garde painters in Brussels, he participated in their annual exhibition. When, at the opening dinner, Henry de Groux, a member of Les XX, insulted Van Gogh's works, Toulouse-Lautrec demanded satisfaction, and Signac declared, he would continue to fight for Van Gogh's honour, if Lautrec should be surrendered. Later, when Van Gogh's exhibit was on display with the Artistes Indépendants in Paris, Monet said that his work was the best in the show.<ref>John Rewald, Post-Impressionism, revised edition: Secker & Warburg, London England. 1978, p. 346-347 and 348-350</ref>

Auvers-sur-Oise (May – July 1890)

webexhibits.org/vangogh/letter/21/648.htm 648]</ref> Later Van Gogh did two portraits of Gachet in oils, as well as a third—his only etching, and in all three emphasis is on Gachet's melancholic disposition. In his last weeks at Saint-Rémy Van Gogh's thoughts had been returning to his "memories of the North",<ref>Letter 629 30 April 1890</ref> and several of the approximately 70 oils he painted during his 70 days in Auvers-sur-Oise—such as The Church at Auvers—are reminiscent of northern scenes.//webexhibits.org/vangogh/letter/21/648.htm 648]</ref> Later Van Gogh did two portraits of Gachet in oils, as well as a third—his only etching, and in all three emphasis is on Gachet's melancholic disposition. In his last weeks at Saint-Rémy Van Gogh's thoughts had been returning to his "memories of the North",<ref>Letter 629 30 April 1890</ref> and several of the approximately 70 oils he painted during his 70 days in Auvers-sur-Oise—such as The Church at Auvers—are reminiscent of northern scenes.

Wheat Field with Crows—an example of the unusual double square canvas-size he used in the last weeks of his life—with its turbulent intensity is often, but mistakenly, thought to be Van Gogh's last work (Jan Hulsker lists seven paintings after it<ref>Hulsker, J: 'The Complete Van Gogh Phaidon, Oxford, 1980 ISBN 0714820288. pages 480–483. Wheat Field with Crows is work number 2117 of 2125</ref>). Daubigny's Garden is a more likely candidate. There are also seemingly unfinished paintings, such as Thatched Cottages by a Hill.

Van Gogh's depression deepened, and on 27 July 1890, at the age of 37, he walked into the fields and shot himself in the chest with a revolver. Without realizing that he was fatally wounded he returned to the Ravoux Inn where he died in his bed two days later. Theo hastened to be at his side and reported his last words as "La tristesse durera toujours" (French for "the sadness will last forever"). Vincent was buried at the cemetery of Auvers-sur-Oise.<ref>You must specify title = and url = when using {{cite web}}.

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www.vauxhallsociety.org.uk/Hackford.html//www.sparknotes.com/biography/vangogh/section9.rhtml)
   

. Retrieved on 2007-03-25. </ref> Theo had contracted syphilis—though this was not admitted by the family for many years—and not long after Vincent's death, was himself admitted to hospital. He was not able to come to terms with the grief of his brother's absence, and died six months later on 25 January at Utrecht. In 1914 Theo's body was exhumed and re-buried beside Vincent.

Medical records

Main article: Vincent van Gogh's medical condition

Van Gogh cut off the lobe of his left ear during some sort of seizure on 24 December 1888.<ref>You must specify title = and url = when using {{cite web}}.

  DIEUMO , J.B. 
     
 

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www.vauxhallsociety.org.uk/Hackford.html//www.vangoghpromo.com/en/vincent/homage/index.html
ajp.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/abstract/159/4/519 "The Illness of Vincent van Gogh"] American Journal of Psychiatry</ref>//ajp.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/abstract/159/4/519 "The Illness of Vincent van Gogh"] American Journal of Psychiatry</ref>

Diagnoses which have been put forward include schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, syphilis, poisoning from swallowed paints, temporal lobe epilepsy and acute intermittent porphyria. Any of these could have been the culprit and been aggravated by malnutrition, overwork, insomnia, and a fondness for alcohol, and absinthe in particular.

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. Retrieved on 2006-10-07. </ref>//www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1071623 | accessdate = 2006-10-07}}</ref>

www.news.harvard.edu/gazette/2004/01.29/01-creativity.html |author=William J. Cromie |title=The brains behind writer's block |publisher= Harvard Gazette |date=2004-01-29}}</ref>//www.news.harvard.edu/gazette/2004/01.29/01-creativity.html |author=William J. Cromie |title=The brains behind writer's block |publisher= Harvard Gazette |date=2004-01-29}}</ref>

Work

Van Gogh drew and painted water-colours while he went to school, though very few of these works survive, and his authorship is challenged for many claimed to be from this period. When he committed himself to art as an adult (1880), he started at the elementary level by copying the "Cours de dessin," edited by Charles Bargue and published by Goupil & Cie. Within his first two years he began to seek commissions, and in spring 1882, his uncle, Cornelis Marinus (owner of a renowned gallery of contemporary art in Amsterdam) asked him to provide drawings of the Hague; Van Gogh's work did not prove up to his uncle's expectations. Despite this, Uncle Cor (or "C.M. " as he was referred to by his nephews) offered a second commission, specifying the subject matter in detail, but he was once again disappointed with the result.

Nevertheless, Van Gogh persevered with his work. He improved the lighting of his atelier (studio) by installing variable shutters, and experimented with a variety of drawing materials. For more than a year he worked hard on single figures—highly elaborated studies in "black and white," which at the time gained him only criticism. Nowadays they are appreciated as his first masterpieces. In spring 1883, he embarked on multi-figure compositions, based on the drawings. He had some of them photographed, but when his brother commented that they lacked liveliness and freshness, Vincent destroyed them and turned to oil painting. Already in autumn 1882, Theo had enabled him to do his first paintings, but the amount Theo could supply was soon spent. Then, in spring 1883, Vincent turned to renowned Hague School artists like Weissenbruch and Blommers, and received technical support from them, as well as from painters like De Bock and Van der Weele, both Hague School artists of the second generation. When he moved to Nuenen, after the intermezzo in Drenthe, he started various large size paintings, but he destroyed most of them himself. The Potato Eaters and its companion pieces, The Old Tower on the Nuenen cemetery and The Cottage, are the only ones that have survived. After a visit to the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, Vincent was aware that many faults of his paintings were due to a lack of technical experience. So he went to Antwerp, and later to Paris to improve his technical skill.

news.bbc.co.uk/1/world/europe/1209192.stm Star dates Van Gogh canvas] 8 March, 2001</ref>]]//news.bbc.co.uk/1/world/europe/1209192.stm Star dates Van Gogh canvas] 8 March, 2001</ref>]]

More or less acquainted with impressionist and neo-impressionist techniques and theories, Van Gogh went to Arles to develop these new possibilities. But within a short time, older ideas on art and work reappeared: ideas like doing series on related or contrasting subject matter, which would reflect the purpose of art. Already in 1884 in Nuenen he had worked on a series that was to decorate the dining room of a friend in Eindhoven. Similarly in Arles, in spring 1888 he arranged his Flowering Orchards into triptychs, began a series of figures which found its end in The Roulin Family, and finally, when Gauguin had consented to work and live in Arles side by side with Vincent, he started to work on the The Décoration for the Yellow House, probably the most ambitious effort he ever undertook. Most of his later work is elaborating or revising its fundamental settings.

arxiv.org/abs/physics/0606246 'Kolmogorov scaling in impassioned van Gogh paintings'] by J. L. Aragón, Gerardo G. Naumis, M. Bai, M. Torres, P.K. Maini; 28 June 2006</ref> to conform to Kolmogorov's statistical model of turbulence. At various times in his life Van Gogh painted the view from his window; this culminated in the great series of paintings of the wheat field he could see from his adjoining cells in the asylum at Saint-Rémy.//arxiv.org/abs/physics/0606246 'Kolmogorov scaling in impassioned van Gogh paintings'] by J. L. Aragón, Gerardo G. Naumis, M. Bai, M. Torres, P.K. Maini; 28 June 2006</ref> to conform to Kolmogorov's statistical model of turbulence. At various times in his life Van Gogh painted the view from his window; this culminated in the great series of paintings of the wheat field he could see from his adjoining cells in the asylum at Saint-Rémy.

Legacy

Main articles: Posthumous fame of Vincent van Gogh and Cultural depictions of Vincent van Gogh

Since his first exhibits in the late 1880s, Van Gogh's fame grew steadily, among his colleagues and among art critics, dealers and collectors. After his death, memorial exhibitions were mounted in Brussels, Paris, The Hague and Antwerp. In the early 20th century, the exhibitions were followed by vast retrospectives in Paris (1901 and 1905), Amsterdam (1905), Cologne (1912), New York City (1913) and Berlin (1914). These prompted a noticeable impact over a new generation of artists.

The French Fauves, including Henri Matisse, extended both his use of colour and freedom in applying it, as did German Expressionists in the Die Brücke group. The 1950s' Abstract Expressionism is seen as benefiting from the exploration Van Gogh started with gestural marks. In 1957, Anglo-Irish artist Francis Bacon based several paintings on reproductions of Van Gogh's The Painter on his Way to Work (which had been destroyed during World War II).

He has been the subject or inspiration for a number of classical and popular musical works, including the Don McLean's 1971 ballad "Vincent", also known by its opening words, "Starry Starry Night," which refer to the painting The Starry Night.

Gallery

The Blooming Plumtree (after Hiroshige), (1887)	Portrait of Père Tanguy, (1887)	Cherry Tree, (1888)	The Old Mill, (1888)
The Harvest, Arles, (1888)	Bridge at Arles, (1888)	View of Arles with Irises, (1888)	The Rhônebarken, (1888)
Cypresses, (1889)	Cornfield with Cypresses, (1889)	View of Arles (Flowering Orchards), (1889)	The Olive Trees, (1889)
Entrance of the Hospital, Saint-Remy, (1889)	L'Arlesienne: (Madame Ginoux), (1890)	The Round of the Prisoners, (1890)	Wheat Field with Crows, (1890)

Sources

Notes

External links

Modèle:Wikiquote Modèle:Wikisource author www.vggallery.com/ Vincent van Gogh Gallery]. The complete works and letters of Vincent van Gogh.//www.vggallery.com/ Vincent van Gogh Gallery]. The complete works and letters of Vincent van Gogh. www.vggallery.com/ Vincent van Gogh Gallery]. The complete works and letters of Vincent van Gogh.//webexhibits.org/vangogh/ Van Gogh's Letters], unabridged and annotated. www.vggallery.com/ Vincent van Gogh Gallery]. The complete works and letters of Vincent van Gogh.//www.vangoghmuseum.nl/ Van Gogh Museum], Amsterdam, The Netherlands. www.vggallery.com/ Vincent van Gogh Gallery]. The complete works and letters of Vincent van Gogh.//www.nga.gov/exhibitions/vgwel.shtm Van Gogh at the National Gallery of Art], Washington D.C., United States. www.vggallery.com/ Vincent van Gogh Gallery]. The complete works and letters of Vincent van Gogh.//pagesperso-orange.fr/crampman/album_cris/auvers_1.html Photographs of locations in Auvers-sur-Oise] painted by Van Gogh. www.vggallery.com/ Vincent van Gogh Gallery]. The complete works and letters of Vincent van Gogh.//www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0PAL/is_523_162/ai_n15880259 'Drama at Arles new light on Van Gogh's self-mutilation'] from Apollo, September 2005 by Martin Bailey. www.nytimes.com/2007/09/28/arts/design/28vinc.html Painted with Words: Vincent van Gogh's Letters to Emile Bernard], New York Times, September 9, 2007//www.nytimes.com/2007/09/28/arts/design/28vinc.html Painted with Words: Vincent van Gogh's Letters to Emile Bernard], New York Times, September 9, 2007

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