Vincent van Gogh was a Dutch painter. His work falls under Post-Impressionism; an art movement that succeeded nineteenth-century impressionism.
Vincent van Gogh was born in Zundert, on March 30, 1853, exactly one year after his mother gave birth to a stillborn child, whom his parents had also named Vincent. His parents were Theodorus van Gogh (1822-1885), who was a minister of the Dutch Reformed Church, and Anna Cornelia Carbentus (1819-1907). He had two brothers and three sisters:
- Anna Cornelia (Anna) 1855-1930
- Theodorus (Theo) 1857-1891
- Elizabeth Huberta (Lies) 1859-1936
- Willemien Jacoba (Wil)1862-1941
- Cornelis Vincent (Cor) 1867-1900
Vincent went for two years to the primary school in Zevenbergen and followed secondary education in Tilburg for also two years. At the age of fifteen he dropped out of school.
In 1869 Vincent started as an employee at the Goupil & Cie, an art dealer company. The Van Gogh family had long-standing connections in the art world. Two of Vincent's uncles were also art dealers. And his younger brother Theo also started working in this industry, which had a great influence on Vincent's career as an artist.
After four years at Goupil & Cie, Vincent was transferred to London in 1873, where he lived for two years. He often visited art galleries and museums, which would influence his later works. In May 1875, Vincent was transferred to Paris, but it became clear to him that he no longer found satisfaction in selling paintings. He gave up his job and returned to England in March 1876 to work as a teacher at Reverend William P. Stokes' school, where he enjoyed teaching 24 boys.
Vincent spent hours in museums and immersed himself in the Bible. Although he grew up in a religious family, it was only now that it hit him, and he considered devoting his life to the Church. With the help of Reverend Jones, for whom Vincent had gone to work, he started as a speaker at Twinham Green Parish. This was to prepare him for his first Sunday sermon. Unfortunately, Vincent's sermons were uninspired and during a family visit at Christmas, Vincent decided to stay in the Netherlands. On May 9, 1877, he left for Amsterdam to be admitted to the University of Amsterdam to study Theology, unfortunately he failed to qualify. Van Gogh made an agreement with the church to begin a trial period of preaching in the severely impoverished areas of Western Europe, the coal mines in Belgium.
Vincent sympathized enormously with the poor working conditions of the miners' families and tried to assist them as best he could as a minister. His need to help went far. He gave his food and clothes to the poorest people. Despite his good intentions, the delegates of the Church were disappointed in his methods and removed him from office. However, Vincent refused to abandon the miners and moved to a village where he lived in poverty. It is during this period that Vincent began to draw the miners' families and the poor conditions and eventually chose his profession as an artist.
After living in poor circumstances for more than a year, Vincent moved to Brussels in 1880 to devote himself fully to art. He was helped financially by his brother Theo, with whom he had always maintained a close relationship. There have been many correspondences between them over the years (700 letters), which have been a source of information about Vincent's life and work.
In the summer of 1881 Vincent stayed with his parents and met his cousin Cornelia Adriana (Kee), who had recently become a widow. Vincent fell in love with her but was rejected. That touched him deeply. He found support with Anton Mauve (1838-1888), his cousin by marriage. Mauve was a successful artist and sent Vincent painting materials and instructions. Unfortunately, their good relationship came under pressure when Vincent started living with the prostitute, Clasina Maria (Sien) Hoornik (1850-1904) in The Hague. Sien was already pregnant at the time. After a year and a half, their relationship ended due to the tension of the poverty in which they lived and because of their fickle characters. The letters to Theo showed Vincent's great affection for Sien and certainly for her children, but art remained his greatest passion above all.
After the break with Sien, Vincent wandered through Drenthe and painted landscapes and the inhabitants. After six weeks he moved to Nuenen and moved back in with his parents. Until 1885 he painted dozens of works in which the local farmers, in particular were beloved objects. The many years of hard work resulted in his first major work: The Potato Eaters.
Five difficult years followed in which Vincent tried to establish his name as an artist. He eventually left the Netherlands to develop further in Paris in the company of the Impressionists. Despite being influenced by this, he remained true to his own style. He went to live with his brother Theo. During this period, the correspondence stopped, which meant that detailed information was missing.
Vincent developed further as an artist in Paris. Theo brought him into contact with various artists. Not only Vincent's fickle nature caused tension between the two brothers, but also because he could not resist the temptation of the Parisian nightlife. He smoked and drank a lot. The common thread in Vincent's life is also his irritability and depression during the winter months. This pattern kept coming back.
Vincent had gained a lot of skills and knowledge in Paris and thought it was time to move on. He left for the South, where the sun was. In early 1888 he settled in Arles, France. In addition to painting, he also wanted to build an artists' commune there for his friends from Paris.
The first weeks were a big disappointment. Instead of sun there was snow, and it was very cold. Fortunately, the winter did not last long, and Vincent painted some of his masterpieces: Path through a field of willows, and Path, Landscape with a path and truncated trees.
Vincent was satisfied with the result and felt reborn. He dreamed of founding his artists' colony and persuaded Paul Gauguin to come to the South. Theo largely paid for this, because he hoped that Gaugain's arrival would ensure a stable and happy life for Vincent. In compensation, Theo wanted to have Gauguin's paintings, because his work, unlike Vincent, yielded something.
Gauguin came on October 23, 1888 and together the two artists painted beautiful products. However, when winter came, Vincent's mood changed. Unfortunately, Gauguin also turned out to have a fierce character. Their relationship deteriorated and they had sharp arguments. This caused Vincent's psychological condition to deteriorate. After another tantrum, Vincent cut off his left earlobe and had to be hospitalized. After Gauguin sent Theo a telegram, he left Arles in December. It was not until January that Vincent was released from the hospital.
In January Vincent created several beautiful pieces, such as 'La Berceuse' and the 'Sunflowers'. Unfortunately, he had another breakdown in early February and had to be hospitalized again. This compulsory admission lasted six weeks, also because the inhabitants of Arles had submitted a petition to the mayor in which they objected to Vincent's behavior. After consultation with Theo, Vincent decided to voluntarily be admitted to the Saint-Paul-de-Mausole asylum and left Arles.
Vincent's condition became stable. He was allowed to paint again and made 'The Starry Night'. In mid-July another breakdown followed, and Vincent tried to swallow his own paint. He had to hand in his paint material, which he got back after a week because his health improved.
A year after the incident with his ear, Vincent suffered another serious breakdown on December 23, 1889, which lasted more than a week. In that period, Vincent received positive messages about his works for the first time. After consultation with Theo, he left for Paris on May 16, 1890, where he moved in with his brother, his wife, and their newborn son. However, the busy city chased him, and he soon exchanged Paris for a quiet village. In the months of June and July, Vincent painted his most famous works 'Portrait of Dr. Gachet' and 'The Church at Auvers'.
There are several versions of the story of what exactly happened on that fateful night of July 27, 1890.
According to the most accepted version, Vincent went to the cornfields on a Sunday evening with his painting easel and painting equipment. There he would have shot himself in the chest. Despite his injuries, he stumbled back to the inn where he was staying. The innkeeper found him on the bed and immediately called for help. The local doctors decided not to remove the bullet from Vincent's body. That same evening a letter was sent to his brother Theo, who arrived the next day. During Vincent's last hours, the brothers were constantly together. Theo later wrote to his sister that Vincent had reconciled himself to the situation and longed to die. Vincent van Gogh died on July 29, 1890 at 1.30 am in his brother's arms.
Theo van Gogh died six months later and was buried in Utrecht, but in 1914 Theo's widow, Johanna, decided to rebury the body next to Vincent's grave in Auvers.
Paperblanks regularly uses well-known writers, artists and artists as inspiration for their notebooks, bullet journals and diaries. And there are also beautiful Van Gogh fountain pens from Visconti.