Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890), Dutch painter

Vincent van Gogh
Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890), Dutch painter who exemplified the idea of artist as tortured genius. His paintings are characterized by thick brush strokes, brilliant colors, and jagged lines, through which Van Gogh expressed his emotional response to his subjects rather than providing an accurate description of them. As a result he became a leader in the development of expressionism in painting.
The son of a Dutch Protestant pastor, van Gogh displayed a moody, restless temperament early in life. By the age of 27 he had been in turn a salesman in an art gallery, a French tutor, a theological student, and an evangelist among the miners at Wasmes in Belgium. Van Gogh was mostly self-taught as an artist.
From the early 1880s on, van Gogh was supported by his brother Théo van Gogh, an art dealer in Paris who provided encouragement as well as financial assistance. In 1886 van Gogh went to live with Théo in Paris, where he became familiar with the new art movements developing at the time. Théo’s gallery was attempting to sell works by impressionist painters such as Claude Monet and Camille Pissarro, and van Gogh saw for the first time the brighter colors and less sentimental subject matter of impressionist painting. As a result he began to abandon the dark colors of his early works for a much lighter and brighter palette.
In Paris van Gogh also came to know many of the younger artists, among them Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Émile Bernard, Paul Gauguin, and Georges Seurat. Through these painters he learned to admire the work of Japanese printmakers such as Hiroshige and Hokusai. The linear patterns and flat areas of color in Japanese prints had a profound effect on his style.

In his enthusiasm van Gogh wanted to form a community of artists, and in late 1888 he persuaded Gauguin to leave Brittany in northern France and join him in Arles. After less than two months they began to have violent disagreements, culminating in a quarrel in which van Gogh wildly threatened Gauguin with a razor; the same night, in deep remorse, van Gogh cut off part of his own ear. This was the first serious sign of mental illness. Although Gauguin left Arles, the two remained in touch.

For a time Van Gogh was in a hospital at Arles. He then voluntarily entered the nearby asylum of Saint-Rémy. During his year there, periods of clarity and intense artistic activity alternated with spells of depression and inertia.
Van Gogh shot himself on July 27, 1890, and died two days later. Although Van Gogh’s works failed to find an appreciative audience during his lifetime, their popularity rose steadily during the 20th century. His paintings brought record prices at auctions.
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