• He was a Dutch, Post-Impressionist painter, born in 1853
• He was raised in a religious family, his father was a pastor
• After graduation he was an art dealer for a few years; but he got bored and studied to become a pastor
• At age 27 he entered an art college in
Belgium
• His first major painting, Potato Eaters, was painted when he was 32

• He was friends with another famous artist, Paul Gauguin
• In his 9 years as an artist, he painted over 900 paintings
• During his life he was never famous as a painter and he struggled to make a living as an artist. He only sold ONE painting during his life
• Died at age 37
• Since his death he has become one of the most famous painters in the world

• His artwork is popular because of his use of bold color, emotional honesty and rough beauty
• He believed that in order to become a good painter, you had to master drawing before adding color
• He drew & painted landscapes, still life and portraits
• He struggled with mental health issues and was sent to a mental hospital in France. It was here where he painted his most famous painting, The Starry Night

(1888)
• This painting was painted as oil on canvas
• It was created while he was in the mental hospital in France
• In this painting he was trying to capture “country life” with people, haystacks, ladders and carts
• Notice the horizontal planes in the picture with the harvested wheat in the foreground and the purpleblue mountains rising into the blue air in the background

(1888)