Schoolboy, junior clerk in an art firm, teacher, book dealer, student and preacher: Vincent Van Gogh tried himself in all of the above roles before, at the age of 27, he decided to become an artist. This decision has changed the history of art forever. Beautiful paintings by Van Gogh today everyone knows.
On March 30, 1853, Vincent van Gogh was born in the family of the Protestant Minister Theodore Van Gogh and Anna Carbentus in the village of Brabant in Zundert. The year before, grief occurred in their family - another son (also known as Vincent) was born dead on the same day. Fortunately, the birth of Vincent II went smoothly, followed by three sisters and two brothers: Anna, Theo, Wil, Lies and Cor. The Van Gogh family often walked around the surroundings of Sundert, most likely, this influenced the great love of nature in the future artist.
The career of the painter began as follows: in the spring of 1881, Vincent returned to his parents who already lived in Etten. He was engaged in drawing and often worked on the street. Meanwhile, his brother Theo was appointed head of Goupil & Cie in Paris. He supported Vincent financially so that he could fully concentrate on his art. Vincent’s parents, on the other hand, were extremely disappointed that their eldest son had chosen the artist’s path, which in their eyes was synonymous with social failure.
In the photo: Painting Peasant, 1885
Vincent took painting lessons in The Hague from his relative, the famous artist Anton Mauve. Van Gogh felt that his drawing technique was still not good enough, so he continued to practice fanatically. Mauve taught Vincent the basics of watercolor and oil painting, and Van Gogh visited his workshop almost every day.
1
The Potato Eaters, 1885
Shortly after Vincent's father died, Van Gogh left his father's house and moved to his studio, where he began working on the painting "Potato Eaters." Vincent combined his hard work on the work with non-stop smoking and malnutrition. Most of his money went to art materials. Later that year, he decided to enter the Academy of Arts in Antwerp and left Holland forever.
2
Night cafe, 1888
It's no secret that Vincent Van Gogh was a man of non-traditional orientation. He had a very stormy relationship with the French artist Paul Gauguin, whose beautiful paintings you can also see on our site most-beauty.ru. For more than two months, they worked together without rest and sleep. It was during this period that the painting “Night Cafe” was painted.
3
Yellow House, 1888
Van Gogh's paintings were painted from what he saw. And Gauguin wrote mainly from memory and imagination. Vincent began to show aggression, and when Gauguin threatened to leave, Van Gogh was so upset that he threatened him with a razor. That same evening, the painter, after sorting through absinthe, cut off his ear. The accident occurred in the famous Yellow House.
4
Self-portrait with a cut off ear and tube, 1889
A report on the “auditory incident” was published in newspapers. Vincent was hospitalized at Arles Hospital. Theo arrived on the very first train. He later said that on this day it became clear to everyone around him that Van Gogh's aggression was the result of his mental instability. To date, it is generally accepted that the creator suffered from epileptic psychosis, although the opinions of experts differ.
It is believed that the conflict with Gauguin led to the fact that the most famous painting by Van Gogh was written, the name of which speaks for itself - "Self-portrait with a cut off ear and tube."
5
Starry Night, 1889
In addition, experts analyzed Starry Night and concluded that Vincent suffered from color blindness. They justified that the artist was overly fond of certain colors of paints - red, green and white.
6
Series "Sunflowers"
There is another interesting hypothesis - some scientists believe that the sunflowers in the paintings of the creator are mutants.
7
Flowering Almond Branches, 1890
Despite the stress experienced, Vincent Van Gogh found the strength to return to painting. When his brother Theo, in January 1890, had a son, named Vincent Willem Van Gogh, the master wrote and sent them from the hospital a special painting - “Flowering Almond Branches”.
8
Portrait of Dr. Gachet, 1890
The doctor who treated Vincent was Paul Ferdinand. The doctor treated him in the last months of his life. The artist painted his portrait. There were two canvases. One of them in 1990 at an open auction was sold for a record $ 82 million, which immediately raised the picture to the rank of the most expensive in the world.
9
Red vineyards in Arles, 1888
Not being a successful artist, Van Gogh hoped that he would create a work that would allow him to quickly become famous. He wanted to become a famous painter. One fine day, when the artist was walking home, he found an impressive picture. Van Gogh saw people picking grapes. They appeared before the painter, like blue and purple dots, buried in the bright light of sunset. The master presented this moment in his new creation and did not lose.
For a long time, the creation was considered the only painting sold during the life of Vincent. Anna Bosch acquired it at a Brussels exhibition for just 400 francs. Then, “Red Vineyards in Arles” fell into the hands of the famous Ivan Morozov, a Russian collector. At the moment, the work is exhibited as an exhibit at the Museum of Fine Arts. A.S. Pushkin.
10
Irises, 1889
The master wrote the work “Irises” in the last year of his life. Vincent referred to her as a "lightning rod for my illness." The author considered this work his salvation from madness. The work is one of the most expensive works, as it was sold for $ 53 million.
11
Thatched houses on a hill, 1890
Regardless of the fact that Vincent considered the countryside to be healthy, it was all useless. His illness, his uncertainty about tomorrow has become too much. On July 27, 1890, he went into a wheat field and fired a pistol at his chest. Vincent’s brother Theo managed to arrive and, on July 29, from his injuries, the artist died in his presence. The painter was buried in Oversea on July 30, 1890. After himself, he left a huge number of works of art: more than 850 paintings and almost 1,300 works on paper.
A month and a half after the death of Vincent, Theo organized a memorial exhibition of the works of his brother. But his own health also failed. Shortly after the exhibition, suffered a serious nervous breakdown, was hospitalized in a clinic in Utrecht. It turned out that Theo suffered from physical and mental symptoms associated with syphilis. He died there at the end of January 1891, six months after his brother. Vincent's paintings passed on to Theo's widow, Joe van Gogh-Bonger.
The editors of most-beauty.ru asks you to write in the comments which beautiful paintings by Van Gogh impressed you the most.
Editor's Note: This article has been updated since its initial publication in October 2017.