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Birth
Vincent Willem van Gogh, was born in Groot-Zundert, Holland on March 30, 1853. -
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Life of Vincent van Gogh
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First job of Van Gogh
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. -
Goupil Gallery
In June of 1873, van Gogh was transferred to the Goupil Gallery in London. There, he fell in love with English culture. He visited art galleries in his spare time and also became a fan of the writings of Charles Dickens and George Eliot. 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. -
Methodist boys' school
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 denied entrance. -
'Christ of the Coal Mines'
In the winter of 1878, he 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 disagreed with his 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. -
Vincent van Gogh, the artist
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. -
Van Gogh’s love life
He was attracted to women in trouble. Van Gogh moved to The Hague and fell in love with Clasina Hoornik, an alcoholic prostitute. She became his companion, mistress and model. When Hoornik went back to prostitution, he became utterly depressed. In 1882, his family threatened to cut off his money unless he left Hoornik and The Hague. He left in mid-September of that year to travel to Drenth. For the next six weeks, he lived a nomadic life, while drawing and painting the landscape. -
'Potato Eaters'
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'. His brother, Theo, 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. -
View of Paris from Van Gogh's window
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. -
'Sunflowers'
Van Gogh painted two series of sunflowers in Arles, France, four between August and September 1888 and one in January 1889. 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. -
'Yellow House'
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 the 'Yellow House' and spent his money on paint rather than food. -
Van Gogh Cut Off His Ear
Psychological health of Vincent was declining (he is known to have sipped on turpentine and eaten paint). His brother was worried and he offered Paul Gauguin money to go watch over Vincent, he and Gauguin were arguing and one night, Gauguin walked out. Van Gogh followed him and when Gauguin turned around, he saw van Gogh holding a razor. Later van Gogh went to the local brothel and paid for a prostitute named Rachel. He offered her his ear, asking her to keep this object carefully. -
'The 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. The painting is currently housed at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. -
Saint-Paul-de-Mausole asylum
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'. -
End of life of Van Gogh
In July of 1890, Vincent van Gogh committed suicide. 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 -
How did Van Gogh die?
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. He was taken to a nearby hospital and his doctors sent for Theo, 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. He was 37 years old. -
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'. -
'Sunset at Montmajour'
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. -
Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, today
Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam, surrounded by 125k sunflowers.
