Vincent Van Gogh
Impressionist Artist
Vincent Van Gogh
• 1853-1890, Dutch (Netherlands)
• Impressionist painter- meaning paintings
include visible brush strokes, emphasis on
light, ordinary subject matter, the
impression of movement and unusual
visual angles.
Vincent Van Gogh
• He suffered from anxiety and mental
illness most of his life, most likely
schizophrenia.
• Died by committing suicide at age 37, his
artwork still unknown to the world.
Vincent Van Gogh
• His work grew in fame after his death.
• Today he is regarded as one of history’s
greatest painters and an important
contributor to modern art.
• He produced more than 2,000 artworks in
his life, 900 of them paintings.
Vincent Van Gogh
• Many of his pieces, self portraits,
landscapes, and sunflowers are highly
recognizable and very expensive today.
• He originally wanted to become a priest
and began to paint while working as a
missionary. He failed his theology exams
and thus decided to become an artist. His
first work was titled “The Potato Eaters.”
Vincent Van Gogh
Vincent Van Gogh
• At the time he used somber colors,
nothing like the vivid style that he
embraced in his later work.
• He then moved to Paris were he met the
French Impressionists. His work grew
brighter in color and he developed his
unique style there.
Theo Van Gogh
Vincent’s Brother
• The primary source for understanding Van
Gogh comes from his letters to his brother
Theo.
• Theo provided his brother with emotional
and financial support and bought the only
painting he sold in his lifetime.
Vincent Van Gogh
• Van Gogh’s theories on art and life are recorded in the
letters passed between the 2 of them. More than 600
letters survive between them.
• Van Gogh’s sister in law (Theo’s wife) saved their letters
but was worried to release them to the public because
she didn’t want the drama of Vincent’s mental illness to
overshadow his artwork.
• The letters were first published in 1914.
• (Johanna “Jo” Van Gogh)
Vincent, Age 13 on left
Vincent Van Gogh
• Siblings: Theo and Cor – brothers.
Elisabeth, Anna and Willhemina (Wil)sisters.
• Parents: Anna and Theodore.
• Had a famous uncle also named Vincent
Van Gogh who was a sculptor. Art ran in
the family, 3 other uncles were art dealers.
Vincent Van Gogh
• Vincent went to Catholic school for some
time, and was a serious and thoughtful
student.
• He was later shipped off to a boarding
school with his sister Anna where a
successful artist/teacher showed him how
to draw.
The Mission House, where he
decided to become an artist
A portrait drawn by fellow French
artist Henri de Toulouse Lautrec
Toulouse Lautrec
“Bedroom in Arles”
The 1st of his brighter works
created in Paris
“The Night Café”
“Sunflowers”, painted in Arles,
France.
The Café Terrace
Vincent Van Gogh
• During his time in France,
Van Gogh begins a
relationship with a woman
named Clasina.
• She has a young
daughter and is believed
to be pregnant when they
meet.
• She gives birth to a son
they name Willem. She
always claims that Van
Gogh is his father but the
timing of his birth makes
this unlikely.
A portrait by his friend and fellow
artist, Paul Gauguin
Gauguin
Vincent Van Gogh
• Although Van Gogh and Gauguin were
friends they quarreled fiercely about art.
• In 1888, frustrated and ill Van Gogh
confronted Gauguin with a razor blade.
• In panic Van Gogh fled his home and ran
to find Clasina.
Vincent Van Gogh
• He did not injure Gauguin, but the famous
story occurred where he cut off his own
ear, and handed to Clasina.
• Gauguin left Arles and never spoke to Van
Gogh again. Van Gogh was hospitalized in
a critical state for several days.
Vincent Van Gogh
• It is speculated that Van Gogh chopped
the ear off to silence the voices in his
head, due to his schizophrenia.
• 1889, he is committed to a hospital. It is
here he creates his most famous painting,
Starry Night.
Vincent Van Gogh
“At Eternity’s Gate”, one of his last
paintings
Vincent Van Gogh
• At age 37, he walked out of the hospital
into a field and shot himself.
• He survived the immediate impact, went
back inside and was pronounced dead 2
days later.
• Theo fell ill, and died 6 months after
Vincent. They are buried next to one
another.
Vincent Van Gogh
• In his final letter to Theo, Vincent stated
that although he had no children he
viewed his paintings as his legacy.
• They indeed had an important impact on
later generations of artists.
• “Real painters do not paint things as they
are … but as they themselves feel them to
be.”