Vincent Van Gogh
• Vincent van Gogh, for whom color was the chief symbol
of expression, was born in Groot-Zundert, Holland. The
son of a pastor, brought up in a religious and cultured
atmosphere, Vincent was highly emotional and lacked
self-confidence. Between 1860 and 1880, when he
finally decided to become an artist, van Gogh had had
two unsuitable and unhappy romances and had worked
unsuccessfully as a clerk in a bookstore, an art
salesman, and a preacher in the Borinage (a dreary
mining district in Belgium), where he was dismissed for
overzealousness.
Vincent Van Gogh
Vincent Van Gogh
• He remained in Belgium to study art,
determined to give happiness by creating
beauty. The works of his early Dutch
period are somber-toned, sharply lit, genre
paintings of which the most famous is "The
Potato Eaters" (1885). In that year van
Gogh went to Antwerp where he
discovered the works of Rubens and
purchased many Japanese prints.
The Potato Eaters 1885
Vincent Van Gogh
• In 1886 he went to Paris to join his brother
Théo, the manager of Goupil's gallery. In
Paris, van Gogh studied with Cormon,
inevitably met Pissarro, Monet, and
Gauguin, and began to lighten his very
dark palette and to paint in the short
brushstrokes of the Impressionists.
Vincent Van Gogh
• His nervous temperament made him a difficult
companion and night-long discussions combined with
painting all day undermined his health. He decided to go
south to Arles where he hoped his friends would join him
and help found a school of art. Gauguin did join him but
with disastrous results. Near the end of 1888, an incident
led Gauguin to ultimately leave Arles. Van Gogh pursued
him with an open razor, was stopped by Gauguin, but
ended up cutting a portion of his own ear lobe off. Van
Gogh then began to alternate between fits of madness
and lucidity and was sent to the asylum in Saint-Remy
for treatment.
Vincent Van Gogh
• In May of 1890, he seemed much better and
went to live in Auvers-sur-Oise under the
watchful eye of Dr. Gachet. Two months later he
was dead, having shot himself "for the good of
all." During his brief career he had sold one
painting. Van Gogh's finest works were
produced in less than three years in a technique
that grew more and more impassioned in
brushstroke, in symbolic and intense color, in
surface tension, and in the movement and
vibration of form and line.
The Only Painting
Van Gogh Sold
• The Red Vineyard was exhibited for the first time
at the annual exhibition of Les XX, 1890 in
Brussels, and sold for 400 Francs (equal to
about $1,000-1,050 today) to Anna Boch,[1] an
impressionist painter, member of Les XX and art
collector from Belgium; Anna was the sister of
Eugène Boch, another impressionist painter and
a friend of Van Gogh, too, who had painted
Boch's portrait (Le Peintre aux Étoiles) in Arles,
in autumn 1888.
Vincent Van Gogh
• Van Gogh's inimitable fusion of form and
content is powerful; dramatic, lyrically
rhythmic, imaginative, and emotional, for
the artist was completely absorbed in the
effort to explain either his struggle against
madness or his comprehension of the
spiritual essence of man and nature.
Vincent Van Gogh
Short Facts
• Vincent had an older brother who died at birth.
His name was also Vincent van Gogh.
• Van Gogh was close friends with Paul Gauguin,
another famous artist.
• Van Gogh suffered from temporal lobe epilepsy
as well as other mental and physical conditions.
• Vincent shot himself in a wheatfield in Auvers,
France but did not die until 2 days later at the
age of 37.
Short Facts
• Vincent’s brother Theo died six months after
Vincent and is buried next to him in Auvers,
France.
• Vincent’s brother’s wife collected Vincent’s
paintings and letters after his death and
dedicated herself to getting his work the
recognition it deserved.
• In a short period of ten years Van Gogh made
approximately 900 paintings.
• Vincent only sold one painting during his lifetime
and only became famous after his death.
Short Facts
• Vincent van Gogh did not cut off his ear. He only
cut off a small portion of his ear lobe.
• Van Gogh created his most famous work The
Starry Night while staying in an asylum in SaintRemy-de-Provence, France.
• Vincent’s earliest career aspiration was to be a
pastor in the Dutch Reformed Church like his
father.
• Van Gogh wrote over 800 letters in his lifetime.
The majority of them written to his brother and
closest friend Theo.
Van Gogh's
Mental and Physical Health
• Hundreds of physicians and psychiatrists
have tried to define Van Gogh's medical
conditions over the years. The following
are some of the more probable mental and
physical diagnoses.
Temporal Lobe Epilepsy
• Van Gogh suffered from seizures which doctors,
including Dr. Felix Rey and Dr. Peyron, believed to be
caused by temporal lobe epilepsy. Van Gogh was born
with a brain lesion that many doctors believe was
aggravated by his prolonged use of absinthe causing his
epileptic condition. Dr. Gachet, another of Van Gogh's
physicians, was thought to have treated his epilepsy with
digitalis. This prescription drug can cause one to see in
yellow or see yellow spots. This may have been one of
the reasons why Van Gogh loved this color.
•
Bipolar Disorder
• Due to Van Gogh's extreme enthusiasm and
dedication to first religion and then art coupled
with the feverish pace of his art production many
believe that mania was a prominent condition in
Van Gogh's life. However, these episodes were
always followed by exhaustion and depression
and ultimately suicide. Therefore, a diagnosis of
bipolar disorder or manic depression makes
sense with the accounts of these episodes in
Van Gogh's life.
• In order to counter act his attacks of epilepsy,
anxiety, and depression, Van Gogh drank
absinthe, a toxic alcoholic drink popular with
many artists at the time. Thujone is the toxin in
absinthe. Unfortunately, the Thujone worked
against Van Gogh aggravating his epilepsy and
manic depression. High doses of thujone can
also cause one to see objects in yellow. Various
physicians have differing opinions on whether or
not this is what caused Van Gogh's affinity with
yellow.
Lead Poisoning
• Because Van Gogh used lead based paints
there are some who believe he suffered from
lead poisoning from nibbling at paint chips. It
was also noted by Dr. Peyron that during his
attacks Van Gogh tried to poison himself by
swallowing paint or drinking kerosene. One of
the symptoms of lead poisoning is swelling of
the retinas which can cause one to see light in
circles like halos around objects. This can be
seen in paintings like The Starry Night.
Hypergraphia
• Hypergraphia is a condition causing one to
need to write continuously; this disorder is
commonly linked to mania and epilepsy.
Some believe that the massive collection
of over 800 letters Van Gogh wrote during
his lifetime could be attributed to this
condition.
Van Gogh painted Starry Night
while in an Asylum at Saint-Remy in 1889.
Starry Night Over the Rhone
1888
Starry Night “Series”
• This piece is not the only Starry Sky painting that Van
Gogh ever created. Gogh was quite proud of a piece he
had painted earlier in Arles in 1888 that depicted stars
reflecting in the Rhone River. Like Starry Sky this
previous piece shares many of the qualities that have
made Starry Sky such a popular painting. For instance:
• The stars in the night sky are surrounded with their own
orb of light.
• The Reflection of artificial light (new to the time period)
from Arles in the river makes the one's eyes move
around the painting; thus keeping the viewer visually
involved.
• There are structures in the distant lit up in a warm glow
of light.
• Starry Night over the Rhone contains one final aspect
that is not featured in the Starry Night piece; humans. In
the bottom right corner of the painting there is a couple
walking along the river. This gives the painting a down to
earth feel with a natural quality. Although this painting is
not nearly as popular as the seconded Starry Night
piece, it still creates a pleasurable and life like
environment to look at.
• Cafe Terrace At Night was also painted in Arles in 1888.
The similarities between this piece the previous two are
vaguely similar. This piece offers a new type of
perspective on the star filled sky.
• Cafe Terrace At Night
was also painted in
Arles in 1888. The
similarities between
this piece the
previous two are
vaguely similar.
This piece offers a
new type of
perspective on the
star filled sky.
Cafe Terrace At Night 1888
• The Stars are barely consumed in
their own light.
• The bright yellow wall draws in ones
attention rather then assisting to
move one's eyes around the painting.
• There is a sense of balance attributed
to the dark cityscape silhouette to the
right of the painting (Contrasting the
bright yellow wall).
Van Gogh’s Sunflowers
• Although Van Gogh's sunflower paintings
are very similar in many aspects, each
stands out as its own unique work of art.
Van Gogh began painting sunflowers after
he left Holland for France in pursuit of
creating an artistic community. The firsts
were created to decorate his friend Paul
Gauguin's bedroom. The majority of Van
Gogh's sunflowers in vases were created
in Arles, France during 1888-1889..
Vase with Fifteen Sunflowers
Van Gogh’s Sunflowers
• There are many pieces within this series of
paintings (each is clearly identifiable as a
Van Gogh work) in which there are only
minor differences that separate them. The
overall layout of the painting along with
positioning of the actual sunflowers usually
remains the same in the similar paintings.
Painting Comparisons
• 1. There are differences in petal
structure on a few of the flowers.
Located in bubble number one you
can see how the second piece has
more petal "bulk" and does not follow
the sweeping "V" motion as is seen in
the first piece.
• 2. The center "eye" of the flower
contains different colors. In the first
example the center is filled with a
greenish yellow, while in the second
piece the center is filled with black.
• 3. This is also the case for bubble
number three. The leafy structure is
yellow in the first piece and resides as
light brown in the second piece.
• 4. The leaf located in bubble number
four is nearly identical in both pieces;
however in the first piece it is
overlapped by the large drooping
flower and is green in color. In the
second piece there is a small but
clear gap between the drooping
flower and the leaf, and the leaf is
black in color.
Two Cut Sunflowers 1887
Four Cut Sunflowers 1887
Irises 1889
• Inspired by the nature surrounding him, Van
Gogh began his work on Irises within the first
week of his stay at the asylum. Irises was most
likely influenced by Japanese woodblock prints
which were produced beginning in the 17th
century. Like many artists of his time Van Gogh
was influenced by the Japanese works. The use
of black contours in Irises is a typical element of
Japanese woodblock prints. It helped to
reinforce the expressive power of the painting.
• There are no known drawings of the piece,
probably because Van Gogh did not consider it
a masterpiece but simply a study. Upon
receiving the canvas Van Gogh’s brother, Theo,
submitted it, along with The Starry Night, to the
Salon des Independants in September of 1889.
• Irises is on the list of the most expensive
paintings ever sold, selling for 54 million dollars
in 1987. Currently Irises is on display at The
Getty Center in Los Angeles, California.