short essay about vincent van gogh

Vincent van Gogh

Vincent van Gogh was one of the world’s greatest artists, with paintings such as ‘Starry Night’ and ‘Sunflowers,’ though he was unknown until after his death.

(1853-1890)

Who Was Vincent van Gogh?

Vincent van Gogh was a post-Impressionist painter whose work — notable for its beauty, emotion and color — highly influenced 20th-century art. He struggled with mental illness and remained poor and virtually unknown throughout his life.

Early Life and Family

Van Gogh was born on March 30, 1853, in Groot-Zundert, Netherlands. Van Gogh’s father, Theodorus van Gogh, was an austere country minister, and his mother, Anna Cornelia Carbentus, was a moody artist whose love of nature, drawing and watercolors was transferred to her son.

Van Gogh was born exactly one year after his parents' first son, also named Vincent, was stillborn. At a young age — with his name and birthdate already etched on his dead brother's headstone — van Gogh was melancholy.

Theo van Gogh

The eldest of six living children, van Gogh had two younger brothers (Theo, who worked as an art dealer and supported his older brother’s art, and Cor) and three younger sisters (Anna, Elizabeth and Willemien).

Theo van Gogh would later play an important role in his older brother's life as a confidant, supporter and art dealer.

Early Life and Education

At age 15, van Gogh's family was struggling financially, and he was forced to leave school and go to work. He got a job at his Uncle Cornelis' art dealership, Goupil & Cie., a firm of art dealers in The Hague. By this time, van Gogh was fluent in French, German and English, as well as his native Dutch.

He also fell in love with his landlady's daughter, Eugenie Loyer. When she rejected his marriage proposal, van Gogh suffered a breakdown. He threw away all his books except for the Bible, and devoted his life to God. He became angry with people at work, telling customers not to buy the "worthless art," and was eventually fired.

Life as a Preacher

Van Gogh then taught in a Methodist boys' school, and also preached to the congregation. Although raised in a religious family, it wasn't until this time that he seriously began to consider devoting his life to the church

Hoping to become a minister, he prepared to take the entrance exam to the School of Theology in Amsterdam. After a year of studying diligently, he refused to take the Latin exams, calling Latin a "dead language" of poor people, and was subsequently denied entrance.

The same thing happened at the Church of Belgium: In the winter of 1878, van Gogh volunteered to move to an impoverished coal mine in the south of Belgium, a place where preachers were usually sent as punishment. He preached and ministered to the sick, and also drew pictures of the miners and their families, who called him "Christ of the Coal Mines."

The evangelical committees were not as pleased. They disagreed with van Gogh's lifestyle, which had begun to take on a tone of martyrdom. They refused to renew van Gogh's contract, and he was forced to find another occupation.

Finding Solace in Art

In the fall of 1880, van Gogh decided to move to Brussels and become an artist. Though he had no formal art training, his brother Theo offered to support van Gogh financially.

He began taking lessons on his own, studying books like Travaux des champs by Jean-François Millet and Cours de dessin by Charles Bargue.

Van Gogh's art helped him stay emotionally balanced. In 1885, he began work on what is considered to be his first masterpiece, "Potato Eaters." Theo, who by this time living in Paris, believed the painting would not be well-received in the French capital, where Impressionism had become the trend.

Nevertheless, van Gogh decided to move to Paris, and showed up at Theo's house uninvited. In March 1886, Theo welcomed his brother into his small apartment.

In Paris, van Gogh first saw Impressionist art, and he was inspired by the color and light. He began studying with Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec , Camille Pissarro and others.

To save money, he and his friends posed for each other instead of hiring models. Van Gogh was passionate, and he argued with other painters about their works, alienating those who became tired of his bickering.

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Van Gogh's love life was nothing short of disastrous: He was attracted to women in trouble, thinking he could help them. When he fell in love with his recently widowed cousin, Kate, she was repulsed and fled to her home in Amsterdam.

Van Gogh then moved to The Hague and fell in love with Clasina Maria Hoornik, an alcoholic prostitute. She became his companion, mistress and model.

When Hoornik went back to prostitution, van Gogh became utterly depressed. In 1882, his family threatened to cut off his money unless he left Hoornik and The Hague.

Van Gogh left in mid-September of that year to travel to Drenthe, a somewhat desolate district in the Netherlands. For the next six weeks, he lived a nomadic life, moving throughout the region while drawing and painting the landscape and its people.

Van Gogh became influenced by Japanese art and began studying Eastern philosophy to enhance his art and life. He dreamed of traveling there, but was told by Toulouse-Lautrec that the light in the village of Arles was just like the light in Japan.

In February 1888, van Gogh boarded a train to the south of France. He moved into a now-famous "yellow house" and spent his money on paint rather than food.

Vincent van Gogh completed more than 2,100 works, consisting of 860 oil paintings and more than 1,300 watercolors, drawings and sketches.

Several of his paintings now rank among the most expensive in the world; "Irises" sold for a record $53.9 million, and his "Portrait of Dr. Gachet" sold for $82.5 million. A few of van Gogh’s most well-known artworks include:

'Starry Night'

Van Gogh painted "The Starry Night" in the asylum where he was staying in Saint-Rémy, France, in 1889, the year before his death. “This morning I saw the countryside from my window a long time before sunrise, with nothing but the morning star, which looked very big,” he wrote to his brother Theo.

A combination of imagination, memory, emotion and observation, the oil painting on canvas depicts an expressive swirling night sky and a sleeping village, with a large flame-like cypress, thought to represent the bridge between life and death, looming in the foreground. The painting is currently housed at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, NY.

'Sunflowers'

Van Gogh painted two series of sunflowers in Arles, France: four between August and September 1888 and one in January 1889; the versions and replicas are debated among art historians.

The oil paintings on canvas, which depict wilting yellow sunflowers in a vase, are now displayed at museums in London, Amsterdam, Tokyo, Munich and Philadelphia.

In 1889, after entering an asylum in Saint-Rémy, France, van Gogh began painting Irises, working from the plants and flowers he found in the asylum's garden. Critics believe the painting was influenced by Japanese woodblock prints.

French critic Octave Mirbeau, the painting's first owner and an early supporter of Van Gogh, remarked, "How well he has understood the exquisite nature of flowers!"

'Self-Portrait'

Over the course of 10 years, van Gogh created more than 43 self-portraits as both paintings and drawings. "I am looking for a deeper likeness than that obtained by a photographer," he wrote to his sister.

"People say, and I am willing to believe it, that it is hard to know yourself. But it is not easy to paint yourself, either. The portraits painted by Rembrandt are more than a view of nature, they are more like a revelation,” he later wrote to his brother.

Van Gogh's self-portraits are now displayed in museums around the world, including in Washington, D.C., Paris, New York and Amsterdam.

Van Gogh's Ear

In December 1888, van Gogh was living on coffee, bread and absinthe in Arles, France, and he found himself feeling sick and strange.

Before long, it became apparent that in addition to suffering from physical illness, his psychological health was declining. Around this time, he is known to have sipped on turpentine and eaten paint.

His brother Theo was worried, and he offered Paul Gauguin money to go watch over Vincent in Arles. Within a month, van Gogh and Gauguin were arguing constantly, and one night, Gauguin walked out. Van Gogh followed him, and when Gauguin turned around, he saw van Gogh holding a razor in his hand.

Hours later, van Gogh went to the local brothel and paid for a prostitute named Rachel. With blood pouring from his hand, he offered her his ear, asking her to "keep this object carefully."

The police found van Gogh in his room the next morning, and admitted him to the Hôtel-Dieu hospital. Theo arrived on Christmas Day to see van Gogh, who was weak from blood loss and having violent seizures.

The doctors assured Theo that his brother would live and would be taken good care of, and on January 7, 1889, van Gogh was released from the hospital.

He remained, however, alone and depressed. For hope, he turned to painting and nature, but could not find peace and was hospitalized again. He would paint at the yellow house during the day and return to the hospital at night.

Van Gogh decided to move to the Saint-Paul-de-Mausole asylum in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence after the people of Arles signed a petition saying that he was dangerous.

On May 8, 1889, he began painting in the hospital gardens. In November 1889, he was invited to exhibit his paintings in Brussels. He sent six paintings, including "Irises" and "Starry Night."

On January 31, 1890, Theo and his wife, Johanna, gave birth to a boy and named him Vincent Willem van Gogh after Theo's brother. Around this time, Theo sold van Gogh's "The Red Vineyards" painting for 400 francs.

Also around this time, Dr. Paul Gachet, who lived in Auvers, about 20 miles north of Paris, agreed to take van Gogh as his patient. Van Gogh moved to Auvers and rented a room.

On July 27, 1890, Vincent van Gogh went out to paint in the morning carrying a loaded pistol and shot himself in the chest, but the bullet did not kill him. He was found bleeding in his room.

Van Gogh was distraught about his future because, in May of that year, his brother Theo had visited and spoke to him about needing to be stricter with his finances. Van Gogh took that to mean Theo was no longer interested in selling his art.

Van Gogh was taken to a nearby hospital and his doctors sent for Theo, who arrived to find his brother sitting up in bed and smoking a pipe. They spent the next couple of days talking together, and then van Gogh asked Theo to take him home.

On July 29, 1890, Vincent van Gogh died in the arms of his brother Theo. He was only 37 years old.

Theo, who was suffering from syphilis and weakened by his brother's death, died six months after his brother in a Dutch asylum. He was buried in Utrecht, but in 1914 Theo's wife, Johanna, who was a dedicated supporter of van Gogh's works, had Theo's body reburied in the Auvers cemetery next to Vincent.

Theo's wife Johanna then collected as many of van Gogh's paintings as she could, but discovered that many had been destroyed or lost, as van Gogh's own mother had thrown away crates full of his art.

On March 17, 1901, 71 of van Gogh's paintings were displayed at a show in Paris, and his fame grew enormously. His mother lived long enough to see her son hailed as an artistic genius. Today, Vincent van Gogh is considered one of the greatest artists in human history.

Van Gogh Museum

In 1973, the Van Gogh Museum opened its doors in Amsterdam to make the works of Vincent van Gogh accessible to the public. The museum houses more than 200 van Gogh paintings, 500 drawings and 750 written documents including letters to Vincent’s brother Theo. It features self-portraits, “The Potato Eaters,” “The Bedroom” and “Sunflowers.”

In September 2013, the museum discovered and unveiled a van Gogh painting of a landscape entitled "Sunset at Montmajour.” Before coming under the possession of the Van Gogh Museum, a Norwegian industrialist owned the painting and stored it away in his attic, having thought that it wasn't authentic.

The painting is believed to have been created by van Gogh in 1888 — around the same time that his artwork "Sunflowers" was made — just two years before his death.

Watch "Vincent Van Gogh: A Stroke of Genius" on HISTORY Vault

QUICK FACTS

• Name: Vincent van Gogh
• Birth Year: 1853
• Birth date: March 30, 1853
• Birth City: Zundert
• Birth Country: Netherlands
• Gender: Male
• Best Known For: Vincent van Gogh was one of the world’s greatest artists, with paintings such as ‘Starry Night’ and ‘Sunflowers,’ though he was unknown until after his death.
• Astrological Sign: Aries
• Brussels Academy
• Nacionalities
• Interesting Facts
• Some of van Gogh's most famous works include "Starry Night," "Irises," and "Sunflowers."
• In a moment of instability, Vincent Van Gogh cut off his ear and offered it to a prostitute.
• Van Gogh died in France at age 37 from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
• Death Year: 1890
• Death date: July 29, 1890
• Death City: Auvers-sur-Oise
• Death Country: France

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CITATION INFORMATION

• Article Title: Vincent van Gogh Biography
• Author: Biography.com Editors
• Website Name: The Biography.com website
• Url: https://www.biography.com/artists/vincent-van-gogh
• Access Date:
• Publisher: A&E; Television Networks
• Last Updated: March 4, 2020
• Original Published Date: April 3, 2014
• As for me, I am rather often uneasy in my mind, because I think that my life has not been calm enough; all those bitter disappointments, adversities, changes keep me from developing fully and naturally in my artistic career.
• I am a fanatic! I feel a power within me…a fire that I may not quench, but must keep ablaze.
• I get very cross when people tell me that it is dangerous to put out to sea. There is safety in the very heart of danger.
• I want to paint what I feel, and feel what I paint.
• As my work is, so am I.
• The love of art is the undoing of true love.
• When one has fire within oneself, one cannot keep bottling [it] up—better to burn than to burst. What is in will out.
• For my part I know nothing with any certainty, but the sight of the stars makes me dream.
• I do not say that my work is good, but it's the least bad that I can do. All the rest, relations with people, is very secondary, because I have no talent for that. I can't help it.
• What is wrought in sorrow lives for all time.
• What I draw, I see clearly. In these [drawings] I can talk with enthusiasm. I have found a voice.
• Enjoy yourself too much rather than too little, and don't take art or love too seriously.
• But I always think that the best way to know God is to love many things.

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Summary of Vincent van Gogh

The iconic tortured artist, Vincent Van Gogh strove to convey his emotional and spiritual state in each of his artworks. Although he sold only one painting during his lifetime, Van Gogh is now one of the most popular artists of all time. His canvases with densely laden, visible brushstrokes rendered in a bright, opulent palette emphasize Van Gogh's personal expression brought to life in paint. Each painting provides a direct sense of how the artist viewed each scene, interpreted through his eyes, mind, and heart. This radically idiosyncratic, emotionally evocative style has continued to affect artists and movements throughout the 20 th century and up to the present day, guaranteeing Van Gogh's importance far into the future.

Accomplishments

• Van Gogh's dedication to articulating the inner spirituality of man and nature led to a fusion of style and content that resulted in dramatic, imaginative, rhythmic, and emotional canvases that convey far more than the mere appearance of the subject.
• Although the source of much upset during his life, Van Gogh's mental instability provided the frenzied source for the emotional renderings of his surroundings and imbued each image with a deeper psychological reflection and resonance.
• Van Gogh's unstable personal temperament became synonymous with the romantic image of the tortured artist. His self-destructive talent was echoed in the lives of many artists in the 20 th century.
• Van Gogh used an impulsive, gestural application of paint and symbolic colors to express subjective emotions. These methods and practice came to define many subsequent modern movements from Fauvism to Abstract Expressionism .

The Life of Vincent van Gogh

Vincent expressed his life via his works. As he famously said, "real painters do not paint things as they are... they paint them as they themselves feel them to be."

Important Art by Vincent van Gogh

The Potato Eaters

This early canvas is considered Van Gogh's first masterpiece. Painted while living among the peasants and laborers in Nuenen in the Netherlands, Van Gogh strove to depict the people and their lives truthfully. Rendering the scene in a dull palette, he echoed the drab living conditions of the peasants and used ugly models to further iterate the effects manual labor had upon these workers. This effect is heightened by his use of loose brushstrokes to describe the faces and hands of the peasants as they huddle around the singular, small lantern, eating their meager meal of potatoes. Despite the evocative nature of the scene, the painting was not considered successful until after Van Gogh's death. At the time this work was painted, the Impressionists had dominated the Parisian avant-garde for over a decade with their light palettes. It is not surprising that Van Gogh's brother, Theo, found it impossible to sell paintings from this period in his brother's career. However, this work not only demonstrates Van Gogh's commitment to rendering emotionally and spiritually laden scenes in his art, but also established ideas that Van Gogh followed throughout his career.

Oil on canvas - The Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam

The Courtesan (after Eisen)

While in Paris, Van Gogh was exposed to a myriad of artistic styles, including the Japanese Ukiyo-e woodblock prints. These prints were only made available in the West in the mid-19 th century. Van Gogh collected works by Japanese ukiyo-e masters like Hiroshige and Hokusai and claimed these works were as important as works by European artists, like Rubens and Rembrandt. Van Gogh was inspired to create this particular painting by a reproduction of a print by Keisai Eisen that appeared on the May 1886 cover of the magazine Paris Illustré . Van Gogh enlarges Eisen's image of the courtesan, placing her in a contrasting, golden background bordered by a lush water garden based on the landscapes of other prints he owned. This particular garden is populated by frogs and cranes, both of which were allusions to prostitutes in French slang. While the stylistic features exhibited in this painting, in particular the strong, dark outlines and bright swaths of color, came to define Van Gogh's mature style, he also made the work his own. By working in paint rather than a woodblock print, Van Gogh was able to soften the work, relying on visible brushstrokes to lend dimension to the figure and her surroundings as well as creating a dynamic tension across the surface not present in the original prints.

Café Terrace At Night

This was one of the scenes Van Gogh painted during his stay in Arles and a painting where he used his powerful nocturnal background. Using contrasting colors and tones, Van Gogh achieved a luminous surface that pulses with an interior light, almost in defiance of the darkening sky. The lines of composition all point to the center of the work drawing the eye along the pavement as if the viewer is strolling the cobblestone streets. The café still exists today and is a "mecca" for van Gogh fans visiting the south of France. Describing this painting in a letter to his sister he wrote, "Here you have a night painting without black, with nothing but beautiful blue and violet and green and in this surrounding the illuminated area colors itself sulfur pale yellow and citron green. It amuses me enormously to paint the night right on the spot..." Painted on the street at night, Van Gogh recreated the setting directly from his observations, a practice inherited from the Impressionists. However, unlike the Impressionists, he did not record the scene merely as his eye observed it, but imbued the image with a spiritual and psychological tone that echoed his individual and personal reaction. The brushstrokes vibrate with the sense of excitement and pleasure Van Gogh experienced while painting this work.

Oil on canvas - Kröller-Muller Museum, Otterlo

Van Gogh's Sunflower series was intended to decorate the room that was set aside for Gauguin at the "Yellow House," his studio and apartment in Arles. The lush brushstrokes built up the texture of the sunflowers and Van Gogh employed a wide spectrum of yellows to describe the blossoms, due in part to recently invented pigments that made new colors and tonal nuances possible. Van Gogh used the sunny hues to express the entire lifespan of the flowers, from the full bloom in bright yellow to the wilting and dying blossoms rendered in melancholy ochre. The traditional painting of a vase of flowers is given new life through Van Gogh's experimentation with line and texture, infusing each sunflower with the fleeting nature of life, the brightness of the Provencal summer sun, as well as the artist's mindset.

Oil on canvas - The National Gallery, London

The Bedroom

Van Gogh's Bedroom depicts his living quarters at 2 Place Lamartine, Arles, known as the "Yellow House". It is one of his most well known images. His use of bold and vibrant colors to depict the off-kilter perspective of his room demonstrated his liberation from the muted palette and realistic renderings of the Dutch artistic tradition, as well as the pastels commonly used by the Impressionists. He labored over the subject matter, colors, and arrangements of this composition, writing many letters to Theo about it, "This time it's just simply my bedroom, only here color is to do everything, and giving by its simplification a grander style to things, is to be suggestive here of rest or of sleep in general. In a word, looking at the picture ought to rest the brain, or rather the imagination." While the bright yellows and blues might at first seem to echo a sense of disquiet, the bright hues call to mind a sunny summer day, evoking as sense of warmth and calm, as Van Gogh intended. This personal interpretation of a scene in which particular emotions and memories drive the composition and palette is a major contribution to modernist painting.

Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear

After cutting off a portion of his left earlobe during a manic episode while in Arles, Van Gogh painted Self Portrait with a Bandaged Ear while recuperating and reflecting on his illness. He believed that the act of painting would help restore balance to his life, demonstrating the important role that artistic creation held for him. The painting bears witness to the artist's renewed strength and control in his art, as the composition is rendered with uncharacteristic realism, where all his facial features are clearly modeled and careful attention is given to contrasting textures of skin, cloth, and wood. The artist depicts himself in front of an easel with a canvas that is largely blank and a Japanese print hung on the wall. The loose and expressive brushstrokes typical of Van Gogh are clearly visible; the marks are both choppy and sinuous, at times becoming soft and diffuse, creating a tension between boundaries that are otherwise clearly marked. The strong outlines of his coat and hat mimic the linear quality of the Japanese print behind the artist. At the same time, Van Gogh deployed the technique of impasto, or the continual layering of wet paint, to develop a richly textured surface, which furthers the depth and emotive force of the canvas. This self-portrait, one of many Van Gogh created during his career, has an intensity unparalleled in its time, which is elucidated in the frank manner in which the artist portrays his self-inflicted wound as well as the evocative way he renders the scene. By combining influences as diverse as the loose brushwork of the Impressionists and the strong outlines from Japanese woodblock printing, Van Gogh arrived at a truly unique mode of expression in his paintings.

Oil on canvas - The Courtauld Gallery, London

Starry Night

Starry Night is often considered to be Van Gogh's pinnacle achievement. Unlike most of his works, Starry Night was painted from memory, and not out in the landscape. The emphasis on interior, emotional life is clear in his swirling, tumultuous depiction of the sky - a radical departure from his previous, more naturalistic landscapes. Here, Van Gogh followed a strict principal of structure and composition in which the forms are distributed across the surface of the canvas in an exact order to create balance and tension amidst the swirling torsion of the cypress trees and the night sky. The result is a landscape rendered through curves and lines, its seeming chaos subverted by a rigorous formal arrangement. Evocative of the spirituality Van Gogh found in nature, Starry Night is famous for advancing the act of painting beyond the representation of the physical world.

Oil on canvas - The Museum of Modern Art, New York

Church at Auvers

After Van Gogh left the asylum at Saint-Remy in May 1890 he travelled north to Auvers, outside of Paris. Church at Auvers is one of the most well-known images from the last few months of Van Gogh's life. Imbuing the landscape with movement and emotion, he rendered the scene with a palette of vividly contrasting colors and brushstrokes that lead the viewer through painting. Van Gogh distorted and flattened out the architecture of the church and depicted it caught within its own shadow - which reflects his own complex relationship to spirituality and religion. Van Gogh conveys a sense that true spirituality is found in nature, not in the buildings of man. The continued influence of Japanese woodblock printing is clear in the thick dark outlines and the flat swaths of color of the roofs and landscape, while the visible brushstrokes of the Impressionists are elongated and emphasized. The use of the acidic tones and the darkness of the church alludes to the impending mental disquiet that would eventually erupt within Van Gogh and lead to his suicide. This sense of instability plagued Van Gogh throughout his life, infusing his works with a unique blend of charm and tension.

Oil on canvas - Musée d'Orsay, Paris

Paul-Ferdinand Gachet

Dr. Gachet was the homeopathic physician that treated Van Gogh after he was released from Saint-Remy. In the doctor, the artist found a personal connection, writing to his sister, "I have found a true friend in Dr. Gachet, something like another brother, so much do we resemble each other physically and also mentally." Van Gogh depicts Gachet seated at a red table, with two yellow books and foxglove in a vase near his elbow. The doctor gazes past the viewer, his eyes communicating a sense of inner sadness that reflects not only the doctor's state of mind, but Van Gogh's as well. Van Gogh focused the viewer's attention on the depiction of the doctor's expression by surrounding his face with the subtly varied blues of his jacket and the hills of the background. Van Gogh wrote to Gauguin that he desired to create a truly modern portrait, one that captured the "the heartbroken expression of our time." Rendering Gachet's expression through a blend of melancholy and gentility, Van Gogh created a portrait that has resonated with viewers since its creation. A recent owner, Ryoei Saito, even claimed he planned to have the painting cremated with him after his death, as he was so moved by the image. The intensity of emotion that Van Gogh poured into each brushstroke is what has made his work so compelling to viewers over the decades, inspiring countless artists and individuals.

Oil on canvas - Private Collection

Biography of Vincent van Gogh

Vincent Van Gogh was born the second of six children into a religious Dutch Reformed Church family in the south of the Netherlands. His father, Theodorus Van Gogh, was a clergyman and his mother, Anna Cornelia Carbentus, was the daughter of a bookseller. Van Gogh exhibited unstable moods during his childhood, and showed no early inclination toward art-making, though he excelled at languages while attending two boarding schools. In 1868, he abandoned his studies and never successfully returned to formal schooling.

Early Training

In 1869, Van Gogh apprenticed at the headquarters of the international art dealers Goupil & Cie in Paris and eventually worked at the Hague branch of the firm. He was relatively successful as an art dealer and stayed with the firm for almost a decade. In 1872, Van Gogh began exchanging letters with his younger brother Theo. This correspondence continued through the end of Vincent's life. The following year, Theo himself became an art dealer, and Vincent was transferred to the London office of Goupil & Cie. Around this time, Vincent became depressed and turned to God.

After several transfers between London and Paris, Van Gogh was let go from his position at Goupil's and decided to pursue a life in the clergy. While living in southern Belgium as a poor preacher, he gave away his possessions to the local coal-miners until the church dismissed him because of his overly enthusiastic commitment to his faith. In 1880, Van Gogh decided he could be an artist and still remain in God's service, writing, "To try to understand the real significance of what the great artists, the serious masters, tell us in their masterpieces, that leads to God; one man wrote or told it in a book; another, in a picture." Van Gogh was still a pauper, but Theo sent him some money for survival. Theo financially supported his elder brother his entire career, as Vincent made virtually no money from making art.

A year later, in 1881, dire poverty motivated Van Gogh to move back home with his parents, where he taught himself to draw. He became infatuated with his cousin, Kee Vos-Stricker. His continued pursuit of her affection, despite utter rejection, eventually split the family. With the support of Theo, Van Gogh moved to the Hague, rented a studio, and studied under Anton Mauve - a leading member of the Hague School. Mauve introduced Van Gogh to the work of the French painter Jean-François Millet , who was renowned for depicting common laborers and peasants.

In January 1882, while wandering the streets of The Hague, Van Gogh encountered a young prostitute (who also worked as a seamstress and housecleaner) by the name of Clasina Maria Hoornik. He soon came to refer to her as Christien, which he then shortened to, simply, Sien. She was destitute, addicted to alcohol, pregnant, and had her five year-old daughter Maria Wilhelmina, in tow. Van Gogh took pity on her, and took her into his care for the next year and a half. This dismayed his friends and family, and some of his patrons and benefactors, including his cousin-in-law Anton Mauve, and art dealer Hermanus Tersteeg, abruptly withdrew their support for him.

While Sien's account of their relationship portrays it as one merely of convenience and benevolence, it seems that Van Gogh felt more of a connection, and even had plans to marry her. In return for his support, Sien (as well as her children and mother) modeled for over fifty of Van Gogh's works, such as his 1882 drawing Sorrow , in which Sien appears pregnant, and which the artist once called "the best figure I've drawn". It seems, however, that what Van Gogh valued about her was the challenging life she had faced (she had during her life, become pregnant four different times by four different men, all of whom had abandoned her, and two of the children had died during infancy). He once referred to her as "pockmarked" and "no longer beautiful”, and often depicted her frowning, and in difficult or unflattering situations. Sien and her family also appeared in Van Gogh’s 1883 series The Public Soup Kitchen .

Mature Period

In 1884, after moving to Nuenen, Netherlands, Van Gogh began drawing the weathered hands, heads, and other anatomical features of workers and the poor, determined to become a painter of peasant life like Millet. Although he found a professional calling, his personal life was in shambles. Van Gogh accused Theo of not trying hard enough to sell his paintings, to which Theo replied that Vincent's dark palette was out of vogue compared to the bold and bright style of the Impressionist artists that was popular. Suddenly, on March 26, 1885, their father died from a stroke, putting pressure on Van Gogh to have a successful career. Shortly afterward, he completed the Potato Eaters (1885), his first large-scale composition and great work.

Leaving the Netherlands for the last time, in 1885 Van Gogh enrolled at the Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp. There he discovered the art of Baroque painter Peter Paul Rubens , whose swirling forms and loose brushwork had a clear impact on the young artist's style. However, the rigidity of academicism of the school did not appeal to Van Gogh and he left for Paris the following year. He moved in with Theo in Montmartre - the artist's district in northern Paris - and studied with painter Fernand Cormon, who introduced the young artist to the Impressionists. The influence of artists such as Claude Monet , Camille Pissarro , Edgar Degas , and Georges Seurat , as well as pressure from Theo to sell paintings, motivated Van Gogh to adopt a lighter palette.

From 1886 to 1888, Van Gogh became acutely interested in Japanese prints and began to avidly study and collect them, even curating an exhibition of them at a Parisian restaurant. In late 1887, Van Gogh organized an exhibition that included his work and that of his colleagues Emile Bernard and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec , and in early 1888, he exhibited with the Neo-impressionists Georges Seurat and Paul Signac at the Salle de Repetition of the Theatre Libre d'Antoine.

Late Years and Death

The majority of Van Gogh's best-known works were produced during the final two years of his life. During the fall and winter of 1888, Vincent Van Gogh and Paul Gauguin lived and worked together in Arles in the south of France, where Van Gogh eventually rented four rooms at 2 Place Lamartine, which was dubbed the "Yellow House" for its citron hue. The move to Provence began as a plan for a new artist's community in Arles as alternative to Paris and came at a critical point in each of the artists' careers. While at the "Yellow House" Gauguin and Van Gogh worked closely together and developed a concept of color symbolic of inner emotion and not dependent upon nature. Despite enormous productivity, Van Gogh suffered from various bouts of mental instability, likely including epilepsy, psychotic episodes, delusions, and bipolar disorder. Gauguin left for Tahiti, partially as a means of escaping Van Gogh's increasingly erratic behavior. The artist slipped away after a particularly violent fight in which Van Gogh threatened Gauguin with a razor and then cut off part of his own left ear.

On May 8, 1889, reeling from his deteriorating mental condition, Van Gogh voluntarily committed himself into a psychiatric institution in Saint-Remy, near Arles. As the weeks passed, his mental well-being remained stable and he was allowed to resume painting. This period became one of his most productive. In the year spent at Saint-Remy, Van Gogh created over 100 works, including Starry Night (1889). The clinic and its garden became his main subjects, rendered in the dynamic brushstrokes and lush palettes typical of his mature period. On supervised walks, Van Gogh immersed himself in the experience of the natural surroundings, later recreating from memory the olive and cypress trees, irises, and other flora that populated the clinic's campus.

Shortly after leaving the clinic, Van Gogh moved north to Auvers-sur-Oise outside of Paris, to the care of a homeopathic doctor and amateur artist, Dr. Gachet. The doctor encouraged Van Gogh to paint as part of his recovery, and he happily obliged. He avidly documented his surroundings in Auvers, averaging roughly a painting a day over the last months of his life. However, after Theo disclosed his plan to go into business for himself and explained funds would be short for a while, Van Gogh's depression deepened sharply. On July 27, 1890, he wandered into a nearby wheat field and shot himself in the chest with a revolver. Although Van Gogh managed to struggle back to his room, his wounds were not treated properly and he died in bed two days later. Theo rushed to be at his brother's side during his last hours and reported that his final words were: "The sadness will last forever."

The Legacy of Vincent van Gogh

Clear examples of Van Gogh's wide influence can be seen throughout art history. The Fauves and the German Expressionists worked immediately after Van Gogh and adopted his subjective and spiritually inspired use of color. The Abstract Expressionists of the mid-20 th century made use of Van Gogh's technique of sweeping, expressive brushstrokes to indicate the artist's psychological and emotional state. Even the Neo-Expressionists of the 1980s, like Julian Schnabel and Eric Fischl , owe a debt to Van Gogh's expressive palette and brushwork. In popular culture, his life has inspired music and numerous films, including Vincente Minelli's Lust for Life (1956), which explores Van Gogh and Gauguin's volatile relationship. In his lifetime, Van Gogh created 900 paintings and made 1,100 drawings and sketches, but only sold one painting during his career. With no children of his own, most of Van Gogh's works were left to brother Theo.

Influences and Connections

Useful Resources on Vincent van Gogh

• Vincent Van Gogh: A Biography By Julius Meier-Graefe
• Stranger On The Earth: A Psychological Biography Of Vincent Van Gogh By Albert J. Lubin
• Vincent Van Gogh: Portrait of an Artist By Jan Greenberg, Sandra Jordan
• Dear Theo: The Autobiography of Vincent Van Gogh By Irving Stone, Jean Stone
• Letters of Vincent Van Gogh Our Pick By Vincent Van Gogh, Mark Roskill
• Van Gogh: The Complete Paintings Our Pick By Ingo F. Walther, Rainer Metzger
• Van Gogh in Provence and Auvers By Bogomila Welsh-Ovcharov
• Vincent's Colors By Vincent Van Gogh, The Metropolitan Museum of Art
• Vincent Van Gogh: The Drawings By Colta Ives, Susan Alyson Stein, Sjraar Van Heugten, Marije Vellekoop
• The Vincent Van Gogh Museum
• The Vincent Van Gogh Gallery Comprehensive image gallery of the artist's works
• Vincent Van Gogh: The Letters Our Pick Archives of Van Gogh's complete letters
• Van Gogh and the Colors of the Night Interactive website for the 2008 MoMA Exhibition
• Van Gogh's Ear and Modern Painting Our Pick By Adam Gopnik / The New Yorker / January 4, 2010
• Van Gogh's Night Visions By Paul Trachtman / Smithsonian Magazine / January 2009
• Nocturnal Van Gogh, Illuminating the Darkness Our Pick By Roberta Smith / The New York Times / September 18, 2008
• The Evolution of a Master Who Dreamed on Paper By Michael Kimmelman / The New York Times / October 14, 2005
• Where Van Gogh's Art Reached its Zenith By Grace Glueck / The New York Times / October 7, 1984
• Lust for Life Our Pick Book by Irving Stone
• Vincent & Theo Robert Altman's film about the brothers Van Gogh
• Don McLean's song 'Vincent (Starry Starry Night)'

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Content compiled and written by The Art Story Contributors

Edited and published by The Art Story Contributors

Vincent's Life, 1853-1890

Vincent van Gogh decided to become an artist at the age of 27. That decision would change his life and art history forever. Read Vincent's biography.

Biography, 1853 -1873

Young Vincent

Biography, 1873 -1881

Looking for a Direction

Biography, 1881-1883

First Steps as an Artist

Biography, 1883 - 1885

Peasant Painter

Biography, 1886 - 1888

From Dark to Light

Biography, 1888 - 1889

South of France

Biography, 1889 - 1890

Hospitalization

Biography, 1890

Vincent's Final Months

Biography, 1890 - 1973

After Vincent's Death

Find out more about the man behind the artworks in these stories

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Van Gogh Biography

Vincent Van Gogh was born near Brabant in Southern Holland on March 30, 1853, the oldest son of a Dutch minister, he grew to become one of the most well known and influential artists of the 19 th century.  Van Gogh tried his hand at several different vocations including working for Goupil & Co., an art dealer, at the age of 16 with his 4 years younger brother Theo, teaching as an assistant in Ramsgate, and acting as a layman preacher in a poor coal mining district in Belgium, before finally deciding to become an artist at the age of twenty-seven.  His early works are dark portraying downtrodden city dwellers as well as Dutch peasants at work. 

Van Gogh’s relationship with his younger brother, Theo, was well documented in the vast number of letters the brothers sent each other.  Van Gogh’s letters to his brother and to other artists provide insight into the life of the painter. 

In 1886, Van Gogh moved to Paris where he lived with his brother, now the manager of Goupil’s, who financially supported the artist.  In Paris Van Gogh became familiar with the work of the Impressionists and Neo-Impressionists.  He befriended Pissarro , Monet , and Gauguin .  Van Gogh began to lighten his color palette and experimented with different shorter brushstrokes.  His works changed from peasant workers to images of Paris, portraits, self-portraits, and images of flowers. 

In 1888, at the age of 35, Van Gogh moved from Paris to Arles where he had dreams of starting a community of artists.  Theo continued to support him financially and tried to sell his artwork.  Fellow artist Paul Gauguin joined him for a short time however, the two frequently had disagreements and Gauguin soon left.  Van Gogh threatened Gauguin with a razor and ended up cutting off a portion of his own ear.  Struggling with fits of madness Van Gogh spent time in an asylum in Arles and then in Saint Remy.

Van Gogh spent much time in the asylum at Saint Remy though it was later believed that he suffered from epilepsy.  While there he painted some 150 paintings.  Upon his release in 1890 he went to Auvers-sur-Oise where he was under the care of physician and painter, Dr. Paul Gachet.  In two months Van Gogh was averaging a painting a day.  At the age of 37, Van Gogh attempted suicide, while in a wheat field he shot himself in the chest.  He died two days later with his brother at his side.  Six months later Theo died as well and was buried next to his brother in the small church at Auvers-sur-Oise.

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98 Vincent van Gogh Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

🏆 best vincent van gogh topic ideas & essay examples, 📌 simple & easy vincent van gogh essay titles, 👍 good essay topics on vincent van gogh, ❓ questions about vincent van gogh.

• Monet’s and van Gogh’s Paintings Comparison Impressionists showed the development of the urban environment at the end of the 19th century. Monet was the representative of impressionism, whereas van Gogh represented post-impressionism.
• The Starry Night by Van Gogh Different colors represent different emotions and feelings in a work of art such as a painting; perhaps one of the most important facts in the use of color is the ability to actively involve the […] We will write a custom essay specifically for you by our professional experts 808 writers online Learn More
• “Starry Night” by Vincent van Gogh The cultural influence on the theme and manner of the work The Starry Night presented by the author can be evaluated through the complicated world look of its nature. The exaggeration of the drawing lines […]
• The “Starry Night” Painting by Vincent van Gogh The emphasis on the big bright sky may represent Van Gogh’s desire to fly away from his reality and embrace the light of the starry night.
• Vincent van Gogh’s “Starry Night” In a temporary post as a missionary in the village of Petit Wastes in Belgium, he recorded peasant miners’ lives in his drawings. He was later exposed to Impressionist artists’ works and became friends with […]
• The “Corridor in the Asylum” Painting by Vincent van Gogh Several details in Vincent Van Gogh’s 1889 artwork Corridor in the Asylum catch the viewer’s attention, but the lone person in the central area of the picture is perhaps the most prominent.
• Pablo Picasso and Vincent van Gogh Paintings Comparison The author of the painting is Pablo Ruiz y Picasso, a Spanish painter who lived and worked in France in the first half of the twentieth century.
• Van Gogh’s Use of Color The use of complementary colors, which became the signature of Van Gogh’s style, helped to intensify the mutual effect of the color scheme in the paintings.
• Franz Kafka’s and Vincent van Gogh’s Connection Although van Gogh and Kafka realized their creative intentions in different areas of art, they had the remarkable connection in terms of sharing problems in family relations; having problems in personal relations; struggling to find […]
• Van Gogh’s Philosophical and Ideological Background This paper is dedicated to work out the philosophical and ideological background in the works of Van Gogh with the help of critique of some authors having investigated the issues of contemporary and ancient arts.
• Vincent van Gogh: Changes in the Technique One of the elements that attract attention is the rich texture of this of this work. It should be noted that the artists places the starry sky in the very center of the painting while […]
• Dickinson and Van Gogh: Artistic Expressions of Life and Emotion Dickinson frequently alludes to the passing of time and the cycles of life and death using environmental imagery, such as the changing seasons.
• Vincent van Gogh’s Letters Analysis Despite touching upon rather mundane concerns, Van Gogh’s letters, as well as those of his brother and his friend Paul Gauguin, convey the sense of support and understanding.
• “Night Cafe” by Van Gogh and “Jacob Wrestling With the Angel” by Gauguin The hour is late, according to the clock on the wall, yet the tables are littered with empty beer bottles and containers, indicating a more joyful environment earlier in the night.
• Vincent van Gogh: A Brilliant Psychologist and Poet of Art The first drawings of van Gogh were the results of the artist’s studies of Realism. A series of van Gogh’s pictures of “voices of the wheat” peasants working in compliance with cycles of nature were […]
• Vincent van Gogh’s Mental Health Problems It is seen that after 1888, his mental conditions worsened and he was often at a loss of control over his own mind.
• Vincent van Gogh’s “Potato Eaters” Review The walls in cafe are of red color, this color is disturbing, and it is a color of blood and danger.
• Cultures in Van Gogh’s and Bichitr’s Paintings According to Diamond, “the Mughals were the apogees of sophistication in the Islamic world, and they created an art that was utterly revolutionary and totally Indian and deeply connected to the broader world, including Europe,”. […]
• Paintings of Cezanne, Seurat, Van Gogh, Gauguin The artists behind the new movement rejected the notions and styles embraced by their predecessors. Georges Seurat was the first artist to reinvent the use of pigment and color in different paintings.
• The Insanity and Art of Vincent van Gogh – Psychology In the opinion of Hemphill,”van Gogh was a manic-depressive who developed confusional episodes and fits in the last two years of his life due to the toxic action of thujone, the active agent of absinthe”.
• ‘Enclosed Field Behind Saint-Paul Hospital’ by Vincent van Gogh Paintings The use of bold vertical lines here appears to be more carefully planned, showing the precision of the artist and the background is carefully applied. The background lines are curved to clearly illustrate the shape […]
• Vincent van Gogh Artistic Works This picture is one of the first works that attracted the attention of artists and critics to van Gogh. The painter is able to use different shades of grey and yellow in order to illustrate […]
• Rembrandt’s Self-Portrait, Vincent van Gogh’s Portrait of Joseph Roulin and Andy Warhol’s Gold Marilyn Monroe. Comparison In contrast to portraits of Roulin and Monroe, the background seems to swallow the artist while the latter appears to dominate the frame directing the attention of the audience details of the figures as opposed […]
• Van Gogh’s Unanswered Love That Fueled His Artistic Creativity The interrelation of romance and loneliness in addition to how the two influenced some of the paintings of Van Gogh such as the one shown in fig 1 is evident in Callow’s words.
• The Weeders by Breton and Women Picking Olives by Van Gogh The style is realistic, in that the viewer has no doubt that the object in the picture are human figures, female, and that they are standing on the ground in a real landscape.
• The Artist’s State of Mind: Van Gogh’s “The Starry Night” The painting also has a tree that also stretches to the sky; it is the tallest feature in the village. The choice of color in the painting is also an indication of the painter’s mood.
• Analysis of the Paintings The Goose Girl at Montfoucault (Camille Pissarro) and The Rocks (Vincent van Gogh) The time difference between the completion of the first painting and the second one was only thirteen years. The variations of color theme in the painting tell a story about the landscape.
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• The Ways in Which Paul Cézanne, Vincent van Gogh and Paul Gauguin Were Innovative
• Vincent van Gogh’s Entrance to the Public Gardens
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• What Made Vincent van Gogh a Genius?
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• What Inspired Vincent van Gogh?
• What Techniques Did Vincent van Gogh Invent?
• What Did Vincent van Gogh Say About Color
• How Did Vincent van Gogh Paint So Fast?
• What Art Style Is Vincent van Gogh?
• What Do We Know About Vincent van Gogh’s Wheat Fields With Cypress?
• What Contribution Did Vincent van Gogh Make to Art?
• How Did Vincent van Gogh Influence the Post-Impressionists?
• How Did the Crisis of Impressionism Affect the Art of Vincent van Gogh and Paul Gauguin?
• What Is the Mental Illness of Vincent van Gogh Reflected in His Self-Portraits?
• What Were the Life and Achievements of Vincent van Gogh?
• Vincent van Gogh Is a Dutch Impressionist Painter, Is Not He?
• What Biography Did Vincent van Gogh Have, His Paths and Hardships?
• How Much Is an Original Vincent van Gogh Worth?
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• What Type of Paint Did Vincent van Gogh Use?
• What Is the True Meaning of the Starry Night?
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Home — Essay Samples — Arts & Culture — Famous Artists — Vincent Van Gogh

Essays on Vincent Van Gogh

What makes a good vincent van gogh essay topics.

When it comes to writing an essay on Vincent Van Gogh, the topic you choose can make or break your paper. A good topic should be thought-provoking, interesting, and allow for in-depth analysis. But with so much to cover when it comes to Van Gogh's life, art, and impact on the world, it can be overwhelming to choose just one topic. Here are some recommendations to help you brainstorm and choose a great essay topic.

First, consider what aspect of Van Gogh's life or work you find most fascinating. Are you drawn to his tumultuous mental state and the impact it had on his art? Or perhaps you're more interested in his unique painting style and the way it influenced future artists. By pinpointing your specific area of interest, you can narrow down your topic options.

Next, think about What Makes a Good essay topic. A strong topic should be specific and focused, allowing you to delve deep into the subject matter. It should also be relevant and timely, sparking interest in both you and your audience. Additionally, consider the availability of research material on your chosen topic. You'll want to ensure there is enough information out there to support your arguments and analysis.

Ultimately, a good Vincent Van Gogh essay topic will be one that allows you to explore new ideas, challenge existing beliefs, and contribute something meaningful to the conversation about this iconic artist.

Best Vincent Van Gogh Essay Topics

Looking for some unique and thought-provoking Vincent Van Gogh essay topics? Here are 20 ideas to get you started:

• The Impact of Mental Illness on Van Gogh's Artistic Style
• Van Gogh's Influence on Modern Art
• The Symbolism of Sunflowers in Van Gogh's Paintings
• Van Gogh's Relationship with Gauguin and its Impact on his Work
• The Use of Color and Texture in Van Gogh's Art
• Van Gogh's Representation of Nature and the Outdoors
• The Role of Religion in Van Gogh's Art
• Van Gogh's Portrayal of Mental Health in Self-Portraits
• The Significance of Starry Night in Van Gogh's Body of Work
• Van Gogh's Artistic Development and Evolution
• The Influence of Japanese Art on Van Gogh's Style
• Van Gogh's Artistic Technique and Brushwork
• The Depiction of Suffering in Van Gogh's Art
• Van Gogh's Use of Light and Shadow
• The Representation of Emotion in Van Gogh's Paintings
• Van Gogh's Artistic Response to Social and Political Issues
• The Commercialization of Van Gogh's Art in Popular Culture
• Van Gogh's Legacy and Impact on the Art World
• The Myth of the "Mad Genius" in Van Gogh's Art
• Van Gogh's Influence on Literature and Film

Vincent Van Gogh essay topics Prompts

Looking for some creative prompts to inspire your Vincent Van Gogh essay? Here are five engaging ideas to get your creative juices flowing:

• Imagine you are a contemporary art critic reviewing one of Van Gogh's paintings. Describe the piece in detail and analyze its impact on the art world.
• Write a fictional interview with Van Gogh, exploring his thoughts on his own work, mental health, and artistic vision.
• Create a visual analysis of a specific Van Gogh painting, examining his use of color, texture, and symbolism.
• Research and compare the critical reception of Van Gogh's work during his lifetime to its contemporary perception. What has changed, and what has remained the same?
• Imagine a world where Van Gogh never existed. How would the art world be different, and what impact would it have on modern culture?

When it comes to writing a compelling essay about Vincent Van Gogh, the topic you choose is crucial. By considering your interests, the relevance of the topic, and the availability of research material, you can select a strong and thought-provoking subject to explore. Whether you're delving into the symbolism of sunflowers or Van Gogh's portrayal of mental health, there are countless fascinating topics to explore when it comes to this iconic artist.

Analyzing Vincent Van Gogh's The Starry Night

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A Painting I Like: Van Gogh's "Self-portrait with Bandaged Ear"

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The Impact of Vincent Van Gogh’s Life Experiences on His Art

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The Life of Vincent Van Gogh and His Most Famous Artworks

The life and artistic career of vincent van gogh, discussion on the artwork "starry night" by vincent van gogh, critical analysis of "self portrait with bandaged ear" by vincent van gogh, "mulberry tree" and "chestnut trees": post-impressionism in the 19th century, a comparison of the artworks of theodore gericault, vincent van gogh and pablo picasso, masterpiece in motion: analysis of 'the starry night, relevant topics.

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Vincent van Gogh and the Post-Impression

Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890) was the chief advocate of the Impression in the last decades of the century, although others such as Monet, in his vivacious  Poplars on the Epte , or Pissarro, in his  The Boulevard Montmartre at Night , occasionally returned to the rapid handling of their earlier work. Van Gogh's  Crab on its Back and  Entrance to a Quarry , with their quickly painted linear brushstrokes, celebrate the aesthetic of the Impression, a bold statement at a time when artists such as Gauguin and Cézanne were earning critical acclaim for their slowly executed paintings. Van Gogh's adherence to this style of painting influenced other powerful vanguard forms of action painting, including Fauvism, German Expressionism, and the New York action painting of the 1950s.

Vincent van Gogh and the Post Impressionism Crab on its Back  1889 Oil on canvas 15 x 18 1/4 inches Van Gogh Museum (Vincent van Gogh Foundation), Amsterdam

The "point" of Impressionist art was to capture the fleeting moment, the transient effect of a certain place, person, or time. Impressionist artists worked on-site with speed and directness, hoping to distinguish their works with a new freshness, immediacy, and truthfulness. Yet the paintings they exhibited were in fact almost always completed in the studio later. This beautifully illustrated book investigates for the first time the works that might truly be called "Impressions"—paintings that appear to be rapid transcriptions of shifting subjects but were nonetheless considered finished by their makers. Renowned Impressionist scholar Richard R. Brettell identifies and discusses Impressions by some of the best-known artists of the period, including Manet, Monet, Renoir, Sisley, Morisot, Degas, Pissarro, and Caillebotte.

The book surveys the various practices of individual artists in the making, signing, exhibiting, and selling of Impressions. Brettell discusses the pictorial theories behind the paintings, the sales strategies for them, and the various forms they took, including works completed in one sitting, "apparent" Impressions, and repeated Impressions. In a concluding chapter, the author considers a small group of works by Vincent van Gogh, who painted with an almost fanatical rapidity and was the only major Post-Impressionist painter to push the aesthetic of the Impression even further.

This book is the catalogue for an exhibition at the National Gallery in London from November 1, 2000, to January 28, 2001, the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam from March 2 to May 20, 2001, and the Clark Art Institute from June 17 to September 9, 2001.

240 pages, 9 3/8 x 11 inches 183 color and six black-and-white illustrations 2000 Published in association with Yale University Press ISBN 0-300-08446-3 (hardcover) ISBN 0-300-08447-1 (softcover)           

The Sower, 1889 by Vincent Van Gogh

In 1888 Vincent Van Gogh painted a series of pictures of a lonely figure moving across a plowed field, a favorite subject of the artist: a broad gesture of the right hand indicates that sowing is taking place. However, the real protagonist of the paintings, which later became aptly known as The Sower , 1889, is the sun in the horizon, a huge, godlike, bright disk flooding the sky with light. The effect is so strong that colors are inverted and stark complementary colors appear: the sky is painted with yellow and the land with violet. Next year, while Van Gogh lived in an asylum for the mentally ill in Saint Remy, France, he painted similar pictures that later became known as Wheatfield with a Reaper . It is not a rare instance to find celestial bodies in Van Gogh's paintings, the sun, moon or stars, even turbulent galaxies. But the "The Sower" and the Wheatfield with a Reaper are exceptional.

Van Gogh made a number of variations on a theme depicting a sower in front of a setting sun. Especially striking in this version are the bright, unnatural colours and the unusual composition, in which the knotty tree in the foreground constitutes a diagonal division of the canvas. His inspiration for this may have come from a Japanese print.

The Starry Night

Café terrace at night, vincent van gogh's letters, van gogh self portrait, the starry night over the rhone, wheatfield with crows, the night cafe, the potato eaters, the yellow house, almond blossom, the church at auvers, at eternity's gate by vincent van gogh, portrait of dr. gachet, portrait of the postman joseph roulin by vincent van gogh, self portrait with bandaged ear.

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“Analysis of Vincent Van Gogh’s Starry Night”, Essay Example

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The “Starry Night”, painted by Vincent Van Gogh is an oil painting on canvas measuring 73 x 92 that was created in June of 1889. Starry Night has come to be one of the most well-known paintings in modern day culture and one of the most replicated prints in art. Vincent Van Gogh only sold one painting during his lifetime; however, he has come to be one of the most famous artists of all times. Vincent Van Gogh was born in Holland in 1853 and traveled to Paris in 1886 where he began to paint in short brushstrokes like the impressionist during that time period. Van Gogh was troubled with some personal issues, possibly a brain disease or lead poisoning and ended up cutting a portion of his ear lobe off. (Van Gogh Gallery) He was admitted to Remy a psychiatric hospital, called Saint Remy. It was at Saint Remy where he created the famous masterpiece, “Starry Night”. (Life of Van Gogh) His troubled personal life explains why the picture was a nocturnal piece with an underlying drama to it. The elements in the painting of lines, lighting, space, color, principles of balance and focal point all illustrate the drama that the artist was undergoing during his creation of the “Starry Night”.

Van Gogh paints a night sky and swirls the clouds and lights the clouds to shine their own luminescence, as well as a shining bright crescent moon. The lines in the sky of the painting are interesting because it keeps the viewer’s focus moving across the painting. In addition, the lines curve and create an onward movement that attracts the viewer and keeps them involved with the painting. Furthermore, Van Gogh uses unique thick brush strokes that are very obvious to the viewer. It has been hypothesized that his harsh brush strokes are in relation to his mental status while he was painting; however, all of his paintings do show consistency with his unique brushstroke. The ironic thing about the hard brushstrokes and the meaning of the brushstrokes is that Vincent himself felt more at ease with that technique in painting. For instance, he wrote a letter to his brother, Theo, and stated, “I should not be surprised if you like the Starry Night and the Ploughed Fields, there is a greater quiet about them than in the other canvases” (Artble). Even though there were harsh brushstrokes and the painting was set at night, Van Gogh made portions of the painting bright and filed with starts. This brings us to the lighting in the painting.

Within the brushstrokes, as mentioned previously, there is light that guides the viewer through the dark night. This illustrates Van Gogh’s favor for nighttime. He makes the sky extremely powerful as it sits above a small town. He swirls the colors and lines that incorporates both the color and light that he uses throughout the painting. The sky is painted with white clouds and bright stars. The main lighting in the painting is the bright shining starts and the crescent moon. The shining stars illuminate the sky, as well as the large crescent moon. The heaviness of the brushstrokes and the rich colors give a sense of chaos. There are also lights shining brightly from the windows of the houses in the town below, but it looks more peaceful than the chaotic sky. It was been thought that this was Van Gogh’s way of making peace with his illness and finding his way to heaven. The light in the sky and houses therefore represent hope that even in a dark night, there is light. Basically, he was giving himself hope through the lighting exemplified in the painting, telling himself that no matter how dark a time is there is still hope. In addition, the letter written to his brother indicates that the lighting made him feel calm and relaxed. (Artble)

In addition to the brushstrokes and lighting, Van Gogh creates spacing in his painting that allows the viewer to move their eyes between the stars and the curves in the sky to create a dot-to dot effect (Artble). The spacing creates a fluid movement of brushstrokes resulting in a calm and beautiful piece. It was indicated during the Van Gogh’s time, the Impressionist painters were not focusing on this type of spacing in their art work, making Van Gogh’s work unique and extremely distinct for the 19 th century. (Artble)

Van Gogh’s chose the color yellow and blue as the dominant colors in the painting. He also used these colors in many other of his later pieces of art. As mentioned previously, it is said that he was suffering from some sort of brain illness or possibly lead poisoning and it is rationalized that is what influenced Van Gogh to use such different colors in his art work for that time period. He used the bright yellow paint along with white to create the spiral clouds in order to bring attention of the viewer to the sky portion of the painting. He also uses green and other colors in the town, such as orange and red to offset and make the yellow stand out more. Overall, the choice of the bright and rich colors of the night is what draws so much attention and captivates the viewers in this unique piece of art.

There are different forms that are used in the painting, including balance. The balance in the painting is shown through the movement of the brushstrokes that starts on the left end of the painting towards the center, where it becomes the main focus of the painting. The balance is also shown through the harmony that is created with the numerous stars that are in the sky and the houses that are represented below. In addition, balance is made through the position of the cypress trees and the crescent moon in the sky. The combination of the moon, houses, and rolling hills is what ultimately creates a sense of balance in the painting. (Scribd)

The focus of the painting is the lines. The lines in the painting are two different types, a long-term bend and a short-term bend that alternates giving the viewer an engaging feeling. Looking at the painting, the viewer can focus on the harsh brush strokes of the alternating lines and focus on the bright colors made of those lines. The main focus of the Starry Night also leads the viewer to think about how different Van Gogh’s technique was compared to other artists during the 19 th century. While looking at the Starry Night it is easy to look at all the focal points in the painting and realize that Van Gogh was an interesting individual and used his emotions and whatever he was going through at the time to paint his pictures, without following the rules of the time. While he was alive he only sold one painting and now many of his works of art are masterpieces. (Scribd)

There are different reasons why Van Gogh may have painted the Starry Night in the manner that he did. For one, since it was painted during his stay at Saint Remy, it is supposedly his version of his view from his room there. In regard to the form, objects, color, lighting and technique, it has been theorized that both his mental status and the socioeconomic status of the culture during that time period may have influenced the artwork. For instance, he was just hospitalized for cutting off his lobe and he uses harsh brushstrokes to represent the dark night. The cypress trees in the painting give a more gentle approach and may represent the townspeople who were farmers during that period, in which he may have thought of hard working individuals. On the left side of the Starry Night painting there is a large dark object that could represent negativity or rejection. Perhaps Van Gogh added that in the painting to describe his feelings of rejection from society and the lack of interest in his paintings at the time. (Scribd) Overall, the Starr Night is an amazing painting with great depth and unique technique. It is one of the paintings of over all time that majority of individuals, whether educated in art or not, recognize or have hanging in their home. The uniqueness of the color, lighting and brush strokes alone represent a unique masterpiece.

Works Cited

Arble. Starry Night Analysis. Web. 2012. Retrieved on April 1, 2012 from: http://www.artble.com/artists/vincent_van_gogh/paintings/starry_night/more_information/analysis

Life of Van Gough. Analysis of Vincent Van Gogh’s Starry Night. WOeb. 2011Retrieved April 1, 2012 from: http://www.vangoghgallery.com/misc/bio.html.

Scribd. Web. Retrieved on April 1, 2012 form: http://www.scribd.com/doc/57425684/Vincent-Van-Gogh-The-Starry-Night

Van Gogh Gallery. Vincent van Gogh: Biography. Web. 2011. Retrieved April 1, 2012 from: http://www.vangoghgallery.com/misc/bio.html.

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‘That truly is nature’: the inspiring story behind four spring scenes Van Gogh painted just weeks after mutilating his ear

The optimistic april paintings were produced at an extremely challenging time for the artist.

Adventures with Van Gogh is a weekly blog by Martin Bailey, our long-standing correspondent and expert on the artist. Published every Friday, his stories range from newsy items about this most intriguing artist to scholarly pieces based on his own meticulous investigations and discoveries. © Martin Bailey

Four of Van Gogh’s finest Provencal landscapes were painted in early April 1889, when spring blossom was at its most spectacular. The artist loved nature, so it comes as no surprise that he felt deeply inspired. But what is astonishing is that at this difficult period in his life he was capable of producing such assured masterpieces.

Van Gogh’s Self-portrait with bandaged Ear (January 1889) Courtauld Gallery, London

Just before Christmas 1888, Van Gogh had suffered a mental attack and mutilated his ear . For the following weeks he was in and out of hospital, sleeping most nights in the crowded ward. Yet despite his terrible personal situation, he continued to paint. Art gave him the will to try to recover.

On 24 March 1889, Vincent wrote to his brother Theo, saying that “in a short while I can set to work again in the orchards”. He immediately went on to add an oblique reference to the terrible self-mutilation: “Ah, if only nothing had happened to mess things up for me!” In the same letter he asked Theo to send him 11 tubes of paint, evidence of his determination to get back to the easel.

In early April, Van Gogh completed two fine landscapes: Orchard in Blossom, View of Arles and Peach Trees in Blossom . What is striking is quite how different they are stylistically.

Van Gogh’s Orchard in Blossom, View of Arles (April 1889) Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (Vincent van Gogh Foundation)

Orchard in Blossom, View of Arles (April 1889) was painted on the eastern outskirts of the town, just a few minutes’ walk from the hospital. The lower half of the canvas is dominated by a green meadow, sprinkled with spring flowers. Beyond the blossoming trees and a handful of soaring cypresses is the skyline of the town, dominated by the tower of the church of St Trophime on the far right.

This picture, as described by Van Gogh, was “almost all green with a little lilac and grey—on a rainy day”. Presumably he was so anxious to get back to painting that he had rushed out of the hospital when there was a short break in the weather. Blossom is so brief that the artist felt he could not afford to waste a moment. He must have worried that further rain would would bring the petals down.

Van Gogh was then strongly influenced by his enthusiasm for Japanese prints (an example hangs in the back of his Self-portrait with bandaged Ear ). The affection for blossom in Japan makes it a frequent motif in their art. The foreground trees in Van Gogh’s painting clearly echo those found in their prints - the tilted and starkly angular forms, the dark outlines framing the trunks and the abrupt cropping.

Utagawa Hiroshige’s Plum Garden in Kameido (1857) Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (Vincent van Gogh Foundation)

When painting Orchard in Blossom, View of Arles Van Gogh may well have been thinking of a particular print which he owned, Utagawa Hiroshige’s Plum Garden in Kameido (1857). This was among his favourites woodcuts.

Van Gogh's Peach Trees in Blossom (April 1889) Courtauld Gallery, London

Peach Trees in Blossom was also painted in early April, although it is so different in mood. It is a much “softer” picture, predominantly in pastel shades. Composed mainly with short, parallel brushstrokes, it represents a bird’s-eye panoramic view of the countryside. It was done just to the north east of Arles, on the plain below Les Alpilles.

Van Gogh gave a staccato description of the picture in a letter to his artist friend Paul Signac: “Green countryside with little cottages, blue line of the Alpilles, white and blue sky. The foreground, enclosures with reed hedges where little peach trees are in blossom—everything there is small, the gardens, the fields ... the trees, even those mountains, as in certain Japanese landscapes.”

Van Gogh's View of Arles (April 1889) Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, Neue Pinakothek, Munich

In Van Gogh’s third blossom scene, View of Arles (April 1889), the composition is dramatically divided by the trunks of three poplars, looking towards a bird’s-eye view of the town, with a canal in the foreground. This time St Trophime is on the left. The middle ground depicts an orchard with rows of blossoming trees, its pastel hues creating a soothing, harmonious effect. A farmer, seemingly as tall as the trees, toils away (towards the right). Red roofs near the horizon (on the left) add tiny splashes of a contrasting colour.

In November 1889, Theo expressed his admiration for this picture: “A view over the countryside in springtime with grey poplars crossing the canvas in such a way that you can’t see either the bottom or the top of the tree. I like it enormously. That truly is nature.” Vincent chose this painting as one of the eight he later decided to show in the exhibition of Les Vingt group in Brussels in January 1890.

Van Gogh’s Orchard in Blossom (April 1889) Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (Vincent van Gogh Foundation)

Van Gogh’s final spring scene was Orchard in Blossom (April 1889), a more conventional picture. He was not completely happy with it, later finessing it in July. He wrote to his brother: “I’ve set to reworking it from memory, and have found a way better to express the harmony of the tones.” This was often his practice: to do most of the work on a landscape outside, in front of the motif, and then make minor colour adjustments back in his studio.

During April 1889 Van Gogh focussed on his work, but the fecund springtime beauty of these paintings belies the challenging circumstances in which they were created. He found life too difficult after the mental crisis that had tragically led him to mutilate his ear. He had become mainly confined to the hospital, other than for brief painting excursions of a few hours in the nearby countryside.

While working on these four blossoming orchards, Van Gogh had on his mind the question of whether he could live independently. With spring, the landscape was bursting into life with fresh growth, but for him personally, the prospect was bleaker.

By the end of April, Van Gogh reluctantly realised that he needed to live in an institution. On 8 May 1889 he set off for the asylum of Saint-Paul-de-Mausole, just outside Saint-Rémy-de-Provence. He would end up staying there a full year, painting whenever his health allowed.

Martin Bailey is the author of Van Gogh’s Finale: Auvers and the Artist’s Rise to Fame (Frances Lincoln, 2021, available in the UK and US ). He is a leading Van Gogh specialist and investigative reporter for The Art Newspaper . Bailey has curated Van Gogh exhibitions at the Barbican Art Gallery and Compton Verney/National Gallery of Scotland. He was a co-curator of Tate Britain’s The EY Exhibition: Van Gogh and Britain (27 March-11 August 2019).

Martin Bailey’s recent Van Gogh books

Bailey has written a number of other bestselling books, including The Sunflowers Are Mine: The Story of Van Gogh's Masterpiece (Frances Lincoln 2013, available in the UK and US ), Studio of the South: Van Gogh in Provence (Frances Lincoln 2016, available in the UK and US ), Starry Night: Van Gogh at the Asylum (White Lion Publishing 2018, available in the UK and US ) and Van Gogh’s Finale: Auvers and the Artist’s Rise to Fame  (Frances Lincoln 2021, available in the UK and US ). Bailey's Living with Vincent van Gogh: the Homes and Landscapes that Shaped the Artist (White Lion Publishing 2019, available in the UK and US ) provides an overview of the artist’s life. The Illustrated Provence Letters of Van Gogh has been reissued (Batsford 2021, available in the UK and US ).

To contact Martin Bailey, please email [email protected] . Please note that he does not undertake authentications.

Read more from Martin's Adventures with Van Gogh blog   here .

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