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92-579: Vincent Willem van Gogh ( Dutch: [ˈvɪnsɛnt ˈʋɪləɱ vɑŋ ˈɣɔx] ; 30 March 1853 – 29 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who is among the most famous and influential figures in the history of Western art. In just over a decade, he created approximately 2100 artworks, including around 860 oil paintings , most of them in the last two years of his life. His oeuvre includes landscapes , still lifes , portraits , and self-portraits , most of which are characterised by bold colours and dramatic brushwork that contributed to

184-766: A "fresh dimension to the understanding of Van Gogh's artistic achievement, an understanding granted to us by virtually no other painter". There are more than 600 letters from Vincent to Theo and around 40 from Theo to Vincent. There are 22 to his sister Wil , 58 to the painter Anthon van Rappard , 22 to Émile Bernard as well as individual letters to Paul Signac , Paul Gauguin , and the critic Albert Aurier . Some are illustrated with sketches . Many are undated, but art historians have been able to place most in chronological order. Problems in transcription and dating remain, mainly with those posted from Arles. While there, Vincent wrote around 200 letters in Dutch, French, and English. There

276-527: A March 1884 letter to Rappard he discusses one of Breton's poems that had inspired one of his paintings. In 1885 he describes Breton's famous work The Song of the Lark as being "fine". In March 1880, roughly midway between these letters, Van Gogh set out on an 80-kilometre trip on foot to meet Breton in the village of Courrières; he was intimidated by Breton's success and the high wall around his estate, and returned without making his presence known. It appears Breton

368-544: A confrontation with a razor when, in a rage, he severed his left ear. Van Gogh spent time in psychiatric hospitals, including a period at Saint-Rémy . After he discharged himself and moved to the Auberge Ravoux in Auvers-sur-Oise near Paris, he came under the care of the homeopathic doctor Paul Gachet . His depression persisted, and on 29 July 1890 Van Gogh died from his injuries after shooting himself in

460-526: A deeper meaning of "Post-Impressionism" in terms of fine art and traditional art applications. The Advent of Modernism: Post-impressionism and North American Art, 1900-1918 by Peter Morrin, Judith Zilczer, and William C. Agee , the catalogue for an exhibition at the High Museum of Art , Atlanta in 1986, gave a major overview of Post-Impressionism in North America. Canadian Post-Impressionism

552-646: A gridded "perspective frame" and three of those works were shown at the annual exhibition of the Société des Artistes Indépendants . In April, he was visited by the American artist Dodge MacKnight , who was living nearby at Fontvieille . On 1 May 1888, Van Gogh signed a lease for four rooms at 2 Place Lamartine, Arles, which he later painted in The Yellow House . The rooms cost 15 francs per month, unfurnished; they had been uninhabited for months. Because

644-643: A heart attack. Van Gogh painted several groups of still lifes in 1885. During his two-year stay in Nuenen, he completed numerous drawings and watercolours and nearly 200 oil paintings. His palette consisted mainly of sombre earth tones, particularly dark brown, and showed no sign of the vivid colours that distinguished his later work. There was interest from a dealer in Paris early in 1885. Theo asked Vincent if he had paintings ready to exhibit. In May, Van Gogh responded with his first major work, The Potato Eaters , and

736-669: A meticulously scientific approach to colour and composition. The term was used in 1906, and again in 1910 by Roger Fry in the title of an exhibition of modern French painters: Manet and the Post-Impressionists , organized by Fry for the Grafton Galleries in London. Three weeks before Fry's show, art critic Frank Rutter had put the term Post-Impressionist in print in Art News of 15 October 1910, during

828-500: A miner until October. He became interested in the people and scenes around him, and he recorded them in drawings after Theo's suggestion that he take up art in earnest. He traveled to Brussels later in the year, to follow Theo's recommendation that he study with the Dutch artist Willem Roelofs , who persuaded him – in spite of his dislike of formal schools of art – to attend the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts . He registered at

920-568: A minister of the Dutch Reformed Church , and his wife, Anna Cornelia Carbentus (1819–1907). Van Gogh was given the name of his grandfather and of a brother stillborn exactly a year before his birth. His grandfather, Vincent (1789–1874), was a prominent art dealer and a theology graduate from the University of Leiden in 1811. This Vincent had six sons, three of whom became art dealers, and may have been named after his great-uncle,

1012-582: A minister was modest, but the Church also supplied the family with a house, a maid, two cooks, a gardener, a carriage and horse; his mother Anna instilled in the children a duty to uphold the family's high social position. Van Gogh was a serious and thoughtful child. He was taught at home by his mother and a governess, and in 1860, was sent to the village school. In 1864, he was placed in a boarding school at Zevenbergen , where he felt abandoned, and he campaigned to come home. Instead, in 1866, his parents sent him to

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1104-497: A northwestern suburb of Paris, where he got to know Signac. He adopted elements of Pointillism, a technique in which a multitude of small coloured dots are applied to the canvas so that when seen from a distance they create an optical blend of hues. The style stresses the ability of complementary colours – including blue and orange – to form vibrant contrasts. While in Asnières Van Gogh painted parks , restaurants and

1196-547: A painting. After seeing the portrait of Adolphe Monticelli at the Galerie Delareybarette, Van Gogh adopted a brighter palette and a bolder attack, particularly in paintings such as his Seascape at Saintes-Maries (1888). Two years later, Vincent and Theo paid for the publication of a book on Monticelli paintings, and Vincent bought some of Monticelli's works to add to his collection. Van Gogh learned about Fernand Cormon 's atelier from Theo. He worked at

1288-465: A purer Impressionism in the last decade of his life. Vincent van Gogh often used vibrant colour and conspicuous brushstrokes to convey his feelings and his state of mind. Although they often exhibited together, Post-Impressionist artists were not in agreement concerning a cohesive movement. Yet, the abstract concerns of harmony and structural arrangement, in the work of all these artists, took precedence over naturalism . Artists such as Seurat adopted

1380-593: A review of the Salon d'Automne , where he described Othon Friesz as a "post-impressionist leader"; there was also an advert in the journal for the show The Post-Impressionists of France . Most of the artists in Fry's exhibition were younger than the Impressionists. Fry later explained: "For purposes of convenience, it was necessary to give these artists a name, and I chose, as being the vaguest and most non-committal,

1472-639: A sculptor (1729–1802). Van Gogh's mother came from a prosperous family in The Hague . His father was the youngest son of a minister. The two met when Anna's younger sister, Cornelia, married Theodorus's older brother Vincent (Cent). Van Gogh's parents married in May 1851 and moved to Zundert. His brother Theo was born on 1 May 1857. There was another brother, Cor, and three sisters: Elisabeth, Anna, and Willemina (known as "Wil"). In later life, Van Gogh remained in touch only with Willemina and Theo. Theodorus's salary as

1564-598: A series of " peasant character studies " which were the culmination of several years of work. When he complained that Theo was not making enough effort to sell his paintings in Paris, his brother responded that they were too dark and not in keeping with the bright style of Impressionism. In August his work was publicly exhibited for the first time, in the shop windows of the dealer Leurs in The Hague. One of his young peasant sitters became pregnant in September 1885; Van Gogh

1656-451: A student and introduced him to watercolour, which he worked on for the next month before returning home for Christmas. He quarrelled with his father, refusing to attend church, and left for The Hague. In January 1882, Mauve introduced him to painting in oil and lent him money to set up a studio. Within a month Van Gogh and Mauve fell out, possibly over the viability of drawing from plaster casts . Van Gogh could only afford to hire people from

1748-518: A studio in Antwerp. Meanwhile, other visitors to the hospital included Marie Ginoux and Roulin. Despite a pessimistic diagnosis, Van Gogh recovered and returned to the Yellow House on 7 January 1889. He spent the following month between hospital and home, suffering from hallucinations and delusions of poisoning. In March, the police closed his house after a petition by 30 townspeople (including

1840-459: A studio of our own with Gauguin," he wrote in a letter to Theo, "I'd like to do a decoration for the studio. Nothing but large Sunflowers ." When Boch visited again, Van Gogh painted a portrait of him, as well as the study The Poet Against a Starry Sky. In preparation for Gauguin's visit, Van Gogh bought two beds on advice from the station's postal supervisor Joseph Roulin , whose portrait he painted. On 17 September, he spent his first night in

1932-608: A three-month course at a Protestant missionary school in Laken , near Brussels. In January 1879, he took up a post as a missionary at Petit-Wasmes in the working class, coal-mining district of Borinage in Belgium. To show support for his impoverished congregation, he gave up his comfortable lodgings at a bakery to a homeless person and moved to a small hut, where he slept on straw. His humble living conditions did not endear him to church authorities, who dismissed him for "undermining

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2024-417: A visit. He was thrilled and took long walks with her. Kee was seven years older than he was and had an eight-year-old son. Van Gogh surprised everyone by declaring his love to her and proposing marriage. She refused with the words "No, nay, never" (" nooit, neen, nimmer "). After Kee returned to Amsterdam, Van Gogh went to The Hague to try to sell paintings and to meet with his second cousin, Anton Mauve . Mauve

2116-406: A woman at a brothel Van Gogh and Gauguin both frequented. Van Gogh was found unconscious the next morning by a policeman and taken to hospital, where he was treated by Félix Rey, a young doctor still in training. The ear was brought to the hospital, but Rey did not attempt to reattach it as too much time had passed. Van Gogh researcher and art historian Bernadette Murphy discovered the true identity of

2208-707: Is Memory of the Garden at Etten . Their first joint outdoor venture was at the Alyscamps , when they produced the pendants Les Alyscamps . The single painting Gauguin completed during his visit was his portrait of Van Gogh. Van Gogh and Gauguin visited Montpellier in December 1888, where they saw works by Courbet and Delacroix in the Musée Fabre . Their relationship began to deteriorate; Van Gogh admired Gauguin and wanted to be treated as his equal, but Gauguin

2300-431: Is disgusting ". In despair, he held his left hand in the flame of a lamp, with the words: "Let me see her for as long as I can keep my hand in the flame." He did not recall the event well, but later assumed that his uncle had blown out the flame. Kee's father made it clear that her refusal should be heeded and that the two would not marry, largely because of Van Gogh's inability to support himself. Mauve took Van Gogh on as

2392-480: Is a stock character and stereotype who is in constant torment due to frustrations with art , other people, or the world in general. The trope is often associated with mental illness . The trope of the tortured artist is thought to have been started by Plato . Creativity and mental illness have been connected over time. Some mental disorders, such as bipolar disorder and schizophrenia , have been said to have helped popular artists with their works. One of

2484-514: Is a gap in the record when he lived in Paris as the brothers lived together and had no need to correspond. The highly paid contemporary artist Jules Breton was frequently mentioned in Vincent's letters. In 1875 letters to Theo, Vincent mentions he saw Breton, discusses the Breton paintings he saw at a Salon , and discusses sending one of Breton's books but only on condition that it be returned. In

2576-641: Is an offshoot of Post-Impressionism. In 1913, the Art Association of Montreal's Spring show included the work of Randolph Hewton , A. Y. Jackson and John Lyman : it was reviewed with sharp criticism by the Montreal Daily Witness and the Montreal Daily Star . Post-Impressionism was extended to include a painting by Lyman, who had studied with Matisse . Lyman wrote in defence of the term and defined it. He referred to

2668-408: Is uncorroborated; Gauguin was almost certainly absent from the Yellow House that night, most likely staying in a hotel. After an altercation on the evening of 23 December 1888, Van Gogh returned to his room where he seemingly heard voices and either wholly or in part severed his left ear with a razor causing severe bleeding. He bandaged the wound, wrapped the ear in paper and delivered the package to

2760-573: The Fauves and German Expressionists in the early 20th century. Van Gogh's work gained widespread critical and commercial success in the following decades, and he has become a lasting icon of the romantic ideal of the tortured artist . Today, Van Gogh's works are among the world's most expensive paintings ever sold . His legacy is celebrated by the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, which holds

2852-594: The Seine , including Bridges across the Seine at Asnières . In November 1887, Theo and Vincent befriended Paul Gauguin who had just arrived in Paris. Towards the end of the year, Vincent arranged an exhibition alongside Bernard, Anquetin, and probably Toulouse-Lautrec, at the Grand-Bouillon Restaurant du Chalet, 43 avenue de Clichy, Montmartre. In a contemporary account, Bernard wrote that the exhibition

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2944-466: The Seine . In 1885 in Antwerp he had become interested in Japanese ukiyo-e woodblock prints and had used them to decorate the walls of his studio; while in Paris he collected hundreds of them. He tried his hand at Japonaiserie , tracing a figure from a reproduction on the cover of the magazine Paris Illustre , The Courtesan or Oiran (1887), after Keisai Eisen , which he then graphically enlarged in

3036-455: The 20th century. According to the present state of discussion, Post-Impressionism is a term best used within Rewald's definition in a strictly historical manner, concentrating on French art between 1886 and 1914, and re-considering the altered positions of impressionist painters like Claude Monet , Camille Pissarro , Auguste Renoir , and others—as well as all new schools and movements at

3128-420: The 20th century—yet this second volume remained unfinished. Rewald wrote that "the term 'Post-Impressionism' is not a very precise one, though a very convenient one"; convenient, when the term is by definition limited to French visual arts derived from Impressionism since 1886. Rewald's approach to historical data was narrative rather than analytic, and beyond this point he believed it would be sufficient to "let

3220-579: The Académie in November 1880, where he studied anatomy and the standard rules of modelling and perspective . Van Gogh returned to Etten in April 1881 for an extended stay with his parents. He continued to draw, often using his neighbours as subjects. In August 1881, his recently widowed cousin, Cornelia "Kee" Vos-Stricker, daughter of his mother's older sister Willemina and Johannes Stricker , arrived for

3312-505: The Antwerp Academy on 18 January 1886. He quickly got into trouble with Charles Verlat , the director of the academy and teacher of a painting class, because of his unconventional painting style. Van Gogh had also clashed with the instructor of the drawing class Franz Vinck . Van Gogh finally started to attend the drawing classes after antique plaster models given by Eugène Siberdt . Soon Siberdt and Van Gogh came into conflict when

3404-863: The British show which he described as a great exhibition of modern art. A wide and diverse variety of artists are called by this name in Canada. Among them are James Wilson Morrice , John Lyman , David Milne , and Tom Thomson , members of the Group of Seven , and Emily Carr . In 2001, the Robert McLaughlin Gallery in Oshawa organized the travelling exhibition The Birth of the Modern: Post-Impressionism in Canada, 1900-1920 . Tortured artist A tortured artist

3496-613: The Ginoux family) who described him as le fou roux "the redheaded madman"; Van Gogh returned to hospital. Paul Signac visited him twice in March; in April, Van Gogh moved into rooms owned by Rey after floods damaged paintings in his own home. Two months later, he left Arles and voluntarily entered an asylum in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence . Around this time, he wrote, "Sometimes moods of indescribable anguish, sometimes moments when

3588-535: The Rhone (1888), and Still Life: Vase with Twelve Sunflowers (1888), all intended for the decoration for the Yellow House . Van Gogh wrote that with The Night Café he tried "to express the idea that the café is a place where one can ruin oneself, go mad, or commit a crime". When he visited Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer in June, he gave lessons to a Zouave second lieutenant – Paul-Eugène Milliet – and painted boats on

3680-671: The Yellow House had to be furnished before he could fully move in, Van Gogh moved from the Hôtel Carrel to the Café de la Gare on 7 May 1888. He had befriended the Yellow House's proprietors, Joseph and Marie Ginoux , and was able to use it as a studio. Van Gogh wanted a gallery to display his work and started a series of paintings that eventually included Van Gogh's Chair (1888), Bedroom in Arles (1888), The Night Café (1888), Café Terrace at Night (September 1888), Starry Night Over

3772-863: The artistic avant-garde , including Émile Bernard and Paul Gauguin , who were seeking new paths beyond Impressionism . Frustrated in Paris and inspired by a growing spirit of artistic change and collaboration, in February 1888 Van Gogh moved to Arles in southern France to establish an artistic retreat and commune. Once there, his paintings grew brighter and he turned his attention to the natural world, depicting local olive groves , wheat fields and sunflowers . Van Gogh invited Gauguin to join him in Arles and eagerly anticipated Gauguin's arrival in late 1888. Van Gogh suffered from psychotic episodes and delusions . He worried about his mental stability, and often neglected his physical health, did not eat properly and drank heavily. His friendship with Gauguin ended after

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3864-472: The artistic circles they frequented (or were in opposition to), including: Furthermore, in his introduction to Post-Impressionism, Rewald opted for a second volume featuring Toulouse-Lautrec , Henri Rousseau "le Douanier", Les Nabis and Cézanne as well as the Fauves , the young Picasso and Gauguin's last trip to the South Seas ; it was to expand the period covered at least into the first decade of

3956-409: The beginning of World War I , but limited their approach widely on the 1890s to France. Other European countries are pushed back to standard connotations, and Eastern Europe is completely excluded. In Germany, it was Paul Baum and Carl Schmitz-Pleis who, in retrospect, provided the decisive impetus. So, while a split may be seen between classical 'Impressionism' and 'Post-Impressionism' in 1886,

4048-429: The chest with a revolver . Van Gogh's work began to attract critical artistic attention in the last year of his life. After his death, his art and life story captured public imagination as an emblem of misunderstood genius, due in large part to the efforts of his widowed sister-in-law Johanna van Gogh-Bonger . His bold use of colour, expressive line and thick application of paint inspired avant-garde artistic groups like

4140-668: The child. He believed Van Gogh was his father, but the timing of his birth makes this unlikely. Sien drowned herself in the River Scheldt in 1904. In September 1883, Van Gogh moved to Drenthe in the northern Netherlands. In December driven by loneliness, he went to live with his parents, then in Nuenen , North Brabant. In Nuenen, Van Gogh focused on painting and drawing. Working outside and very quickly, he completed sketches and paintings of weavers and their cottages . Van Gogh also completed The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen , which

4232-419: The city, but in late 1883, he left Sien and the children. Poverty may have pushed Sien back into prostitution; the home became less happy and Van Gogh may have felt family life was irreconcilable with his artistic development. Sien gave her daughter to her mother and baby Willem to her brother. Willem remembered visiting Rotterdam when he was about 12, when an uncle tried to persuade Sien to marry to legitimise

4324-511: The contemporary art scene. Theo kept all of Vincent's letters to him; but Vincent kept only a few of the letters he received. After both had died, Theo's widow Jo Bonger-van Gogh arranged for the publication of some of their letters. A few appeared in 1906 and 1913; the majority were published in 1914. Vincent's letters are eloquent and expressive, have been described as having a "diary-like intimacy", and read in parts like autobiography. Translator Arnold Pomerans wrote that their publication adds

4416-438: The development of French art since Édouard Manet . Post-Impressionists extended Impressionism while rejecting its limitations: they continued using vivid colours, sometimes using impasto (thick application of paint) and painting from life, but were more inclined to emphasize geometric forms, distort form for expressive effect, and use unnatural or modified colour. The Post-Impressionists were dissatisfied with what they felt

4508-636: The dignity of the priesthood". He then walked the 75 kilometres (47 mi) to Brussels, returned briefly to Cuesmes in the Borinage, but he gave in to pressure from his parents to return home to Etten. He stayed there until around March 1880, which caused concern and frustration for his parents. His father was especially frustrated and advised that his son be committed to the lunatic asylum in Geel . Van Gogh returned to Cuesmes in August 1880, where he lodged with

4600-547: The end and the extent of 'Post-Impressionism' remains under discussion. For Bowness and his contributors as well as for Rewald, ' Cubism ' was an absolutely fresh start, and so Cubism has been seen in France since the beginning, and later in England. Meanwhile, Eastern European artists, however, did not care so much for western traditions, and proceeded to manners of painting called abstract and suprematic —terms expanding far into

4692-414: The end of January 1882, when she had a five-year-old daughter and was pregnant. She had previously borne two children who died, but Van Gogh was unaware of this. On 2 July, she gave birth to a baby boy, Willem. When Van Gogh's father discovered the details of their relationship, he put pressure on his son to abandon Sien and her two children. Vincent at first defied him, and considered moving the family out of

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4784-455: The end of his life, Beethoven used conversation books to interact with his friends and acquaintances. The trope has been criticized for romanticizing mental illness , treating it as a necessary ingredient for creativity. According to a study conducted at the University of Southampton , artwork is perceived to be superior if the observer is told that the artist is mentally ill. However, research has found that famous artists' less renowned work

4876-420: The first time and bringing attention to Georges Seurat and Paul Signac. Theo kept a stock of Impressionist paintings in his gallery on boulevard Montmartre, but Van Gogh was slow to acknowledge the new developments in art. Conflicts arose between the brothers. At the end of 1886 Theo found living with Vincent to be "almost unbearable". By early 1887, they were again at peace, and Vincent had moved to Asnières ,

4968-431: The impressions of things, particularly nature or common objects. Van Gogh's profound unhappiness seems to have overshadowed the lessons, which had little effect. In March 1868, he abruptly returned home. He later wrote that his youth was "austere and cold, and sterile". In July 1869, Van Gogh's uncle Cent obtained a position for him at the art dealers Goupil & Cie in The Hague. After completing his training in 1873, he

5060-462: The latter did not comply with Siberdt's requirement that drawings express the contour and concentrate on the line. When Van Gogh was required to draw the Venus de Milo during a drawing class, he produced the limbless, naked torso of a Flemish peasant woman. Siberdt regarded this as defiance against his artistic guidance and made corrections to Van Gogh's drawing with his crayon so vigorously that he tore

5152-473: The middle school in Tilburg , where he was also deeply unhappy. His interest in art began at a young age. He was encouraged to draw as a child by his mother, and his early drawings are expressive, but do not approach the intensity of his later work. Constant Cornelis Huijsmans , who had been a successful artist in Paris, taught the students at Tilburg. His philosophy was to reject technique in favour of capturing

5244-606: The most known "tortured artists" is Vincent van Gogh , who experts consider to have suffered from psychosis . Another figure matching the description of the "tortured artist" is Ludwig van Beethoven , who, after losing his hearing, became increasingly reclusive and apathetic towards society. In the Heiligenstadt Testament , Beethoven confesses his loss of hearing to his brothers Nikolaus and Kaspar and tells them of his inability to converse regularly anymore as well as his contemplation of suicide . Towards

5336-411: The museums". He achieved this by reducing objects to their basic shapes while retaining the saturated colours of Impressionism. The Impressionist Camille Pissarro experimented with Neo-Impressionist ideas between the mid-1880s and the early 1890s. Discontented with what he referred to as romantic Impressionism, he investigated pointillism , which he called scientific Impressionism, before returning to

5428-475: The name of Post-Impressionism. This merely stated their position in time relatively to the Impressionist movement." John Rewald limited the scope to the years between 1886 and 1892 in his pioneering publication on Post-Impressionism: From Van Gogh to Gauguin (1956). Rewald considered this a continuation of his 1946 study, History of Impressionism , and pointed out that a "subsequent volume dedicated to

5520-417: The paper. Van Gogh then flew into a violent rage and shouted at Siberdt: 'You clearly do not know what a young woman is like, God damn it! A woman must have hips, buttocks, a pelvis in which she can carry a baby!' According to some accounts, this was the last time Van Gogh attended classes at the academy and he left later for Paris. On 31 March 1886, which was about a month after the confrontation with Siberdt,

5612-433: The previous May. His teeth became loose and painful. In Antwerp he applied himself to the study of colour theory and spent time in museums—particularly studying the work of Peter Paul Rubens —and broadened his palette to include carmine , cobalt blue and emerald green . Van Gogh bought Japanese ukiyo-e woodcuts in the docklands, later incorporating elements of their style into the background of some of his paintings. He

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5704-772: The proprietor moved to Isleworth in Middlesex, Van Gogh went with him. The arrangement was not successful; he left to become a Methodist minister's assistant. His parents had meanwhile moved to Etten ; in 1876 he returned home at Christmas for six months and took work at a bookshop in Dordrecht . He was unhappy in the position, and spent his time doodling or translating passages from the Bible into English, French, and German. He immersed himself in Christianity and became increasingly pious and monastic. According to his flatmate of

5796-449: The return trip to Paris. During the first days of his treatment, Van Gogh repeatedly and unsuccessfully asked for Gauguin, who asked a policeman attending the case to "be kind enough, Monsieur, to awaken this man with great care, and if he asks for me tell him I have left for Paris; the sight of me might prove fatal for him." Gauguin fled Arles, never to see Van Gogh again. They continued to correspond, and in 1890, Gauguin proposed they form

5888-487: The rise of expressionism in modern art . Van Gogh's work was beginning to gain critical attention before he died from a self-inflicted gunshot at age 37. During his lifetime, only one of Van Gogh's paintings, The Red Vineyard , was sold. Born into an upper-middle-class family, Van Gogh drew as a child and was serious, quiet and thoughtful, but showed signs of mental instability . As a young man, he worked as an art dealer, often travelling, but became depressed after he

5980-527: The sea and the village . MacKnight introduced Van Gogh to Eugène Boch , a Belgian painter who sometimes stayed in Fontvieille, and the two exchanged visits in July. When Gauguin agreed to visit Arles in 1888, Van Gogh hoped for friendship and to realise his idea of an artists' collective. Van Gogh prepared for Gauguin's arrival by painting four versions of Sunflowers in one week. "In the hope of living in

6072-442: The second half of the post-impressionist period": Post-Impressionism: From Gauguin to Matisse , was to follow. This volume would extend the period covered to other artistic movements derived from Impressionism, though confined to the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Rewald focused on such outstanding early Post-Impressionists active in France as van Gogh , Gauguin , Seurat , and Redon . He explored their relationships as well as

6164-406: The sources speak for themselves." Rival terms like Modernism or Symbolism were never as easy to handle, for they covered literature, architecture and other arts as well, and they expanded to other countries. To meet the recent discussion, the connotations of the term 'Post-Impressionism' were challenged again: Alan Bowness and his collaborators expanded the period covered forward to 1914 and

6256-648: The still sparsely furnished Yellow House. When Gauguin consented to work and live in Arles with him, Van Gogh started to work on the Décoration for the Yellow House , probably the most ambitious effort he ever undertook. He completed two chair paintings: Van Gogh's Chair and Gauguin's Chair. After much pleading from Van Gogh, Gauguin arrived in Arles on 23 October and, in November, the two painted together. Gauguin depicted Van Gogh in his The Painter of Sunflowers ; Van Gogh painted pictures from memory, following Gauguin's suggestion. Among these "imaginative" paintings

6348-697: The street as models, a practice of which Mauve seems to have disapproved. In June, Van Gogh suffered a bout of gonorrhoea and spent three weeks in hospital. Soon after, he first painted in oils, bought with money borrowed from Theo. He liked the medium, and he spread the paint liberally, scraping from the canvas and working back with the brush. He wrote that he was surprised at how good the results were. By March 1882, Mauve appeared to have gone cold towards Van Gogh, and stopped replying to his letters. He had learned of Van Gogh's new domestic arrangement with an alcoholic prostitute, Clasina Maria "Sien" Hoornik (1850–1904), and her young daughter. Van Gogh had met Sien towards

6440-590: The studio in April and May 1886, where he frequented the circle of the Australian artist John Russell , who painted his portrait in 1886. Van Gogh also met fellow students Émile Bernard , Louis Anquetin and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec  – who painted a portrait of him in pastel. They met at Julien "Père" Tanguy 's paint shop, (which was, at that time, the only place where Paul Cézanne 's paintings were displayed). In 1886, two large exhibitions were staged there, showing Pointillism and Neo-impressionism for

6532-674: The teachers of the academy decided that 17 students, including Van Gogh, had to repeat a year. The story that Van Gogh was expelled from the academy by Siberdt is therefore unfounded. Van Gogh moved to Paris in March 1886 where he shared Theo's rue Laval apartment in Montmartre and studied at Fernand Cormon 's studio. In June the brothers took a larger flat at 54 rue Lepic . In Paris, Vincent painted portraits of friends and acquaintances , still life paintings , views of Le Moulin de la Galette , scenes in Montmartre , Asnières and along

6624-427: The time, Paulus van Görlitz, Van Gogh ate frugally, avoiding meat. To support his religious conviction and his desire to become a pastor, in 1877, the family sent him to live with his uncle Johannes Stricker , a respected theologian, in Amsterdam. Van Gogh prepared for the University of Amsterdam theology entrance examination; he failed the exam and left his uncle's house in July 1878. He undertook, but also failed,

6716-571: The turn of the century: from Cloisonnism to Cubism . The declarations of war, in July/August 1914, indicate probably far more than the beginning of a World War —they signal a major break in European cultural history, too. Along with general art history information given about "Post-Impressionism" works, there are many museums that offer additional history, information and gallery works, both online and in house, that can help viewers understand

6808-489: The veil of time and fatality of circumstances seemed to be torn apart for an instant." Van Gogh gave his 1889 Portrait of Doctor Félix Rey to Rey. The doctor was not fond of the painting and used it to repair a chicken coop, then gave it away. In 2016, the portrait was housed at the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts and estimated to be worth over $ 50 million. Post-Impressionist The term Post-Impressionism

6900-447: The woman named Gabrielle Berlatier, who died in Arles at the age of 80 in 1952, and whose descendants still lived (as of 2020) just outside Arles. Gabrielle, known in her youth as "Gaby," was a 17-year-old cleaning girl at the brothel and other local establishments at the time Van Gogh presented her with his ear. Van Gogh had no recollection of the event, suggesting that he may have suffered an acute mental breakdown. The hospital diagnosis

6992-481: The world's largest collection of his paintings and drawings. The most comprehensive primary source on Van Gogh is his correspondence with his younger brother, Theo . Their lifelong friendship, and most of what is known of Vincent's thoughts and theories of art, are recorded in the hundreds of letters they exchanged from 1872 until 1890. Theo van Gogh was an art dealer and provided his brother with financial and emotional support as well as access to influential people on

7084-445: Was "acute mania with generalised delirium", and within a few days, the local police ordered that he be placed in hospital care. Gauguin immediately notified Theo, who, on 24 December, had proposed marriage to his old friend Andries Bonger 's sister Johanna. That evening, Theo rushed to the station to board a night train to Arles. He arrived on Christmas Day and comforted Vincent, who seemed to be semi-lucid. That evening, he left Arles for

7176-486: Was accused of forcing himself upon her, and the village priest forbade parishioners to model for him. He moved to Antwerp that November and rented a room above a paint dealer's shop in the rue des Images ( Lange Beeldekensstraat ). He lived in poverty and ate poorly, preferring to spend the money Theo sent on painting materials and models. Bread, coffee and tobacco became his staple diet. In February 1886, he wrote to Theo that he could only remember eating six hot meals since

7268-846: Was ahead of anything else in Paris. There, Bernard and Anquetin sold their first paintings, and Van Gogh exchanged work with Gauguin. Discussions on art, artists, and their social situations started during this exhibition, continued and expanded to include visitors to the show, like Camille Pissarro and his son Lucien , Signac and Seurat. In February 1888, feeling worn out from life in Paris, Van Gogh left, having painted more than 200 paintings during his two years there. Hours before his departure, accompanied by Theo, he paid his only visit to Seurat in his studio. Ill from drink and suffering from smoker's cough, in February 1888, Van Gogh sought refuge in Arles . He seems to have moved with thoughts of founding an art colony . The Danish artist Christian Mourier-Petersen

7360-471: Was arrogant and domineering, which frustrated Van Gogh. They often quarrelled; Van Gogh increasingly feared that Gauguin was going to desert him, and the situation, which Van Gogh described as one of "excessive tension", rapidly headed towards crisis point. The exact sequence that led to the mutilation of Van Gogh's ear is not known. Gauguin said, fifteen years later, that the night followed several instances of physically threatening behaviour. Their relationship

7452-410: Was complex and Theo may have owed money to Gauguin, who suspected the brothers were exploiting him financially. It seems likely that Vincent realised that Gauguin was planning to leave. The following days saw heavy rain, leading to the two men being shut in the Yellow House. Gauguin recalled that Van Gogh followed him after he left for a walk and "rushed towards me, an open razor in his hand." This account

7544-587: Was drinking heavily again, and was hospitalised between February and March 1886, when he was possibly also treated for syphilis . After his recovery, despite his antipathy towards academic teaching, he took the higher-level admission exams at the Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp and, in January 1886, matriculated in painting and drawing. He became ill and run down by overwork, poor diet and excessive smoking. He started to attend drawing classes after plaster models at

7636-433: Was energised by the local countryside and light; his works from this period are rich in yellow, ultramarine and mauve . They include harvests, wheat fields and general rural landmarks from the area, including The Old Mill (1888), one of seven canvases sent to Pont-Aven on 4 October 1888 in an exchange of works with Paul Gauguin, Émile Bernard, Charles Laval and others. In March 1888, Van Gogh created landscapes using

7728-426: Was first used by art critic Roger Fry in 1906. Critic Frank Rutter in a review of the Salon d'Automne published in Art News , 15 October 1910, described Othon Friesz as a "post-impressionist leader"; there was also an advert for the show The Post-Impressionists of France . Three weeks later, Roger Fry used the term again when he organised the 1910 exhibition Manet and the Post-Impressionists , defining it as

7820-508: Was his companion for two months and at first, Arles appeared exotic to Van Gogh. In a letter, he described it as a foreign country: "The Zouaves , the brothels, the adorable little Arlésienne going to her First Communion, the priest in his surplice, who looks like a dangerous rhinoceros, the people drinking absinthe , all seem to me creatures from another world." The time in Arles was one of Van Gogh's more prolific periods: he completed 200 paintings and more than 100 drawings and watercolours. He

7912-464: Was secretly engaged to a former lodger. He grew more isolated and religiously fervent. His father and uncle arranged a transfer to Paris in 1875, where he became resentful of issues such as the degree to which the art dealers commodified art, and he was dismissed a year later. In April 1876, he returned to England to take unpaid work as a supply teacher in a small boarding school in Ramsgate . When

8004-508: Was stolen from the Singer Laren in March 2020. From August 1884, Margot Begemann, a neighbour's daughter ten years his senior, joined him on his forays; she fell in love and he reciprocated, though less enthusiastically. They wanted to marry, but neither side of their families approved. Margot was distraught and took an overdose of strychnine , but survived after Van Gogh rushed her to a nearby hospital. On 26 March 1885, his father died of

8096-445: Was the successful artist Van Gogh longed to be. Mauve invited him to return in a few months and suggested he spend the intervening time working in charcoal and pastels ; Van Gogh returned to Etten and followed this advice. Late in November 1881, Van Gogh wrote a letter to Johannes Stricker, one which he described to Theo as an attack. Within days he left for Amsterdam. Kee would not meet him, and her parents wrote that his "persistence

8188-404: Was the triviality of subject matter and the loss of structure in Impressionist paintings, though they did not agree on the way forward. Georges Seurat and his followers concerned themselves with pointillism , the systematic use of tiny dots of colour. Paul Cézanne set out to restore a sense of order and structure to painting, to "make of Impressionism something solid and durable, like the art of

8280-447: Was transferred to Goupil's London branch on Southampton Street , and took lodgings at 87 Hackford Road , Stockwell . This was a happy time for Van Gogh; he was successful at work and, at 20, was earning more than his father. Theo's wife, Jo van Gogh-Bonger, later remarked that this was the best year of Vincent's life. He became infatuated with his landlady's daughter, Eugénie Loyer, but she rejected him after he confessed his feelings; she

8372-516: Was transferred to London. He turned to religion and spent time as a missionary in southern Belgium. Later he drifted into ill-health and solitude. He was keenly aware of modernist trends in art and, while back with his parents, took up painting in 1881. His younger brother, Theo , supported him financially, and the two of them maintained a long correspondence . Van Gogh's early works consist of mostly still lifes and depictions of peasant labourers . In 1886, he moved to Paris, where he met members of

8464-558: Was unaware of Van Gogh or his attempted visit. There are no known letters between the two artists and Van Gogh is not one of the contemporary artists discussed by Breton in his 1891 autobiography Life of an Artist . Vincent Willem van Gogh was born on 30 March 1853 in Groot-Zundert , in the predominantly Catholic province of North Brabant in the Netherlands. He was the oldest surviving child of Theodorus van Gogh (1822–1885),

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