The Crazy Creator!?! Vincent Van Gough

By Angelo

The Dutch artist named Vincent Willem van Gogh is who many people believe to be the greatest artist who ever lived, but his life may not be what most people expect at first!  He lived a sad and short life which, unfortunately, ended in suicide at the age of 37 years old.  He was very mentally ill, and was unpopular during his time.  He was so unknown, that in his lifetime he had only sold one of his paintings: The Red Vineyard.  It was not all bad, though. These days, his paintings sell for millions each, and he is more famous than ever!  Want to know more?  Well, be sure to read on!

            Vincent van Gogh was born in Groot-Zundert on March 30, 1853, named after his dead older brother.  Anna Carbentus and Theodore van Gogh were his parents.  He went to a boarding school and learned how to draw well, but suddenly, he dropped out and returned to his home in March 1868.  He became an art dealer like his Uncle Vincent (A.K.A. Uncle Cent), even though his parents didn’t encourage it.  Vincent was quite successful at the company, Goupil and Co., and at the age of 20, he was making even more money than his father!  Later he was transferred to London, excited.  The poverty upset him, though.  Soon, he fell in love with a young woman named Eugenie Loyer, but was rejected by her.  He became lonely after that.

            In March 1880, Vincent van Gogh made one of the most life-changing decisions he ever made.  He walked 43 miles to show an artist, Jules Breton, his drawings.  Even though he was too shy to knock on his door, the trip made him decide to be an artist.  To study, van Gogh enrolled at the Brussels Art Academy.  A painter who was there, Anton van Rappard helped him.  He studied anatomy, perspective, and copied famous paintings.  He moved back to The Hague a year later where another famous artist, Anton Mauve, taught him.  Van Gogh started painting in oil in 1882, which became his favorite style.  His brother, also named Theodorus (A.K.A. Theo), sent him money which he used to buy materials.  He only ate bread and drank coffee those days.  He was sick very often, too.  Van Gogh’s father died of a stroke on March 26, 1885, and he planned on staying in Nuenen not much longer.  Before he left, though, he created his first major work, The Potato Eaters, which showed a poor family eating supper.  Most people disliked the painting.  Van Gogh left for the Belgian city of Antwerp, discouraged.

            Just a year later after he left Nuenen, he moved again, this time to the bustling city of Paris.  It was home to many great artists, and a movement called Impressionism.  In Impressionism, artists worked quickly to get a certain time in a painting.  Van Gogh started refocusing his works on colorful urban places instead of poor people when he saw the Impressionist’s paintings.  Pointillism was also another movement in the time where the painting was made out of thousands of specks of paint.

            Two years had passed, and it was the autumn of 1887.  By then van Gogh had painted more than 200 paintings.  He was also becoming more and more stressed, so, once again, he moved.  This time, it was to Provence in southern France, and it did contribute to his health.  He continued to paint and moved to Arles in February 1888.  Paul Gauguin visited him that October.  Van Gogh was happy that he had another artist to paint and talk with.  The friendship was not all that great, though.  Differences caused them to argue and become tense.

            Eventually, Vincent van Gogh started breaking down.  He overworked, didn’t eat enough, and drank too much.  The arguments between himself and Gauguin were becoming worse.  Finally, on December 23, a very bad quarrel occurred between the two artists.  Gauguin fled leaving van Gogh all by himself.  Desperate, van Gogh cut part of his ear off and gave that part to a local woman (oh my!) who called the police.  He was found unconscious in his bed, and was taken to the hospital.  He recovered and no longer stayed with Paul Gauguin.  Troubled and alone, he often painted self-portraits.

            At least he had a friend who visited, Joseph Roulin.  Unfortunately, he still suffered breakdowns more and more often.  He had three of them in only less than two months.  Soon, he was transferred to a mental hospital.  He painted between his attacks.  He moved back to Auvers where a man named Dr. Gachet took care of him, and van Gogh sold his first painting: The Red Vineyard.  His paintings were being made very quickly, so much that his own sanity was threatened.  The trouble was becoming unbearable, and van Gogh tried to commit suicide with a pistol.  He did not die immediately, but it was too late by the time anyone noticed what had happened.  He died at age 37 on July 29, 1890, leaving his brother, Theo, devastated.  He only had a small funeral.  His legacy was passed on, and now he is one of the most recognized artists in the world.

           Part Two:

            I admire Vincent van Gogh’s paintings, but I feel sorry for him.  He lived a stressful, short life, but he created a very large number of paintings.  He really wasn’t recognized well during his time, and his fame was posthumous.  Now, his paintings are very valuable, the most expensive being Portrait of Dr. Gachet, which sold for $116,790,000!  That’s all I have to say and thanks for reading! J

Resources:

https://www.renoir.org.yu/most-expensive-paintings.asp

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vincent_Van_Gogh

Artists in their time: Vincent van Gogh

Eyewitness Books: Vincent van Gogh