Biography of Vincent van Gogh. Biography of Van Gogh

On March 30, 1853, the famous Dutch post-impressionist artist Vincent Van Gogh was born, whose exhibition was sung by the famous group “Leningrad” in their song last year. The editors decided to remind their readers what kind of master this is, why he is famous and how he ended up without an ear.

Who is Vincent Van Gogh and what did he paint?

Van Gogh is a world famous artist, author of the famous "Sunflowers", "Irises" and " starry night"The master lived only 37 years, of which he devoted no more than ten to painting. Despite the short duration of his creative career, his legacy is enormous: he managed to paint more than 800 paintings and thousands of drawings.

What was Van Gogh like as a child?

Vincent van Gogh was born on March 30, 1853 in the Dutch village of Grote-Zundert. His father was a Protestant minister, and his mother was the daughter of a bookbinder and bookseller. The future artist received his name in honor of his paternal grandfather, but it was not intended for him, but for the first child of his parents, who was born a year before Van Gogh, but died on the first day. So, Vincent, being born second, became the eldest in the family.

Little Vincent's household considered him to be wayward and strange, and he was often punished for his mischief. Outside the family, on the contrary, he was very quiet and thoughtful, and almost did not play with other children. He went to the village school for only a year, after which he was sent to a boarding school 20 km from his home - the boy perceived this departure as a real nightmare and could not forget about what happened, even as an adult. Afterwards he was transferred to another boarding school, which he abandoned in the middle school year and never recovered. Approximately the same attitude awaited all subsequent places where he tried to get an education.

When and how did you start drawing?

In 1869, Vincent joined his uncle's large art and trading company as a dealer. It was here that he began to understand painting, learn to appreciate and understand it. Afterwards, he got tired of selling paintings, and little by little he began to draw and make sketches himself. Van Gogh did not receive any education as such: in Brussels he studied at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, but left it after a year. The artist also visited a prestigious private art studio the famous European teacher Fernand Cormon, studied impressionist painting, Japanese engraving, and the works of Paul Gauguin.

How did it develop personal life?

Van Gogh had only unsuccessful relationships in his life. He fell in love for the first time while still working for his uncle as a dealer. Regarding this young lady and her name, the artist’s biographers are still arguing, without going into details, it is worth saying that the girl rejected Vincent’s advances. Afterwards, the master fell in love with his cousin, she also refused him, and the young man’s persistence turned all their common relatives against him. His next chosen one was a pregnant street woman, Christine, whom Vincent met by chance. Without hesitation, she moved in with him. Van Gogh was happy - he had a model, but Christine turned out to have such a harsh disposition that the lady turned the young man’s life into hell. So every love story ended very tragically, and Vincent could not recover for a long time from the psychological trauma inflicted on him.

Is it true that Van Gogh wanted to become a priest?

This is true. Vincent was from a religious family: his father was a pastor, one of his relatives was a recognized theologian. When Van Gogh lost interest in the painting trade, he decided to become a priest. The first thing he did after finishing his career as a dealer was move to London, where he worked as a teacher in several boarding schools. Afterwards, however, he returned to his homeland and worked in a bookstore. He spent most of his time sketching and translating passages from the Bible into German, English and French.

At the same time, Vincent expressed a desire to become a pastor, and his family supported him in this and sent him to Amsterdam to prepare for entering the university to study theology. Only his studies, just like at school, disappointed him. Leaving this institution, he took courses at the Protestant Missionary School (or maybe he did not graduate from them - there are different versions) and spent six months as a missionary in the mining village of Paturage in Borinage. The artist worked so zealously that the local population and members of the Evangelical Society assigned him a salary of 50 francs. After completing a six-month internship, Van Gogh intended to enter an evangelical school to continue his education, but considered the introduced tuition fees to be a manifestation of discrimination and abandoned his intentions. Then he decided to fight for the rights of workers and turned to the mine management with a petition to improve working conditions. They did not listen to him and removed him from his position as a preacher. This was a serious blow to the artist’s emotional and mental state.

Why did he cut off his ear and how did he die?

Van Gogh communicated closely with another, no less famous artist Paul Gauguin. When Vincent settled in the south of France in the town of Arles in 1888, he decided to create the “Workshop of the South,” which was to become a special fraternity of like-minded artists; Van Gogh assigned an important role in the workshop to Gauguin.

On October 25 of the same year, Paul Gauguin arrived in Arles to discuss the idea of ​​​​creating a workshop. But peaceful communication did not work out; conflicts arose between the masters. In the end, Gauguin decided to leave. After another argument on December 23, Van Gogh attacked his friend with a razor in his hands, but Gauguin managed to stop him. How this quarrel occurred, under what circumstances and what was the reason is unknown, but that same night Vincent did not cut off his entire ear, as many are accustomed to believe, but only his earlobe. Whether he expressed his repentance this way or whether it was a manifestation of his illness is unclear. The next day, December 24, Van Gogh was sent to a psychiatric hospital, where the attack repeated, and the master was diagnosed with temporal lobe epilepsy.

The tendency to hurt himself was also the cause of Van Gogh’s death, although there are many legends regarding this too. The main version is that the artist went for a walk with drawing materials and shot himself in the heart area with a revolver, bought to scare away birds while working plein air. But the bullet went lower. So the master independently reached the hotel where he lived, he was given first aid, but it was not possible to save Vincent Van Gogh. On July 29, 1890, he died from loss of blood.

How much are Van Gogh's paintings worth now?

Vincent Van Gogh, by the mid-20th century, came to be regarded as one of the greatest and most recognizable artists. His works, according to auction houses, are considered one of the most expensive. A myth has spread that during his life the master sold only one painting - “Red Vineyards in Arles”, but this is not entirely true. This painting was the first for which a significant sum was paid - 400 francs. At the same time, documents on the lifetime sale of at least 14 more works by Van Gogh have been preserved. How many real transactions he made is unknown, but we should not forget that he started out as a dealer and was capable of trading his paintings.

In 1990, at a Christie's auction in New York, Van Gogh's painting "Portrait of Doctor Gachet" was purchased for $82.5 million, and "Portrait of the Artist without a Beard" cost $71.5 million. The paintings "Irises", "Landscape with Thunderstorms" clouds”, “Wheat field with cypress trees” are estimated at approximately $50 million to $60 million. The still life “Vase with daisies and poppies” was bought in 2014 for $61.8 million.

Vincent Van Gogh is one of the world's greatest artists, whose work has a great influence on the development of modern trends in painting and gives impetus to the development of impressionism. Today, countries such as the Netherlands, France and England are proud that such a great creator once lived and worked on their territory, and the value of his paintings, located in different parts of the world, cannot be calculated in any monetary unit, just like the cost of irobot. However, no matter how sad it may sound, during the life of Vincent van Gogh, his paintings were of no value to the society of that time, and this genius died in a state of madness and complete loneliness.

Van Gogh's work was influenced by many factors, so, undoubtedly, he was influenced by his childhood, character, and the time in which he was born. However, despite the fact that for its short life the creator survived many illnesses, depression, poverty, loneliness, he was never afraid and never stopped experimenting. And he experimented with everything that was possible. So, during his short creative career, Van Gogh experimented with light and shadow, with color schemes, with form, with models and with various artistic techniques. His work also changed as his worldview changed.

Thus, being born at the end of the nineteenth century into a low-income Dutch working-class family, Van Gogh was accustomed to observing and empathizing with the lives of ordinary people. At that time, the poor barely had enough money for food, and therefore it was not possible to imagine that in a couple of centuries people would be able, sitting at home in an armchair, to purchase equipment for themselves by asking in the search bar of the browser: “irobot roomba 790 buy.”

Hard times and the impressionability of the young Van Gogh served as the main impetus for the development of his work, in which the main characters were working-class people. In the paintings of that time, the creator conveyed the severity of the situation of poor people. By painting canvases in dark colors, the artist clearly and accurately conveyed the oppressive and oppressive atmosphere of that time.

However, having moved to sunny France, the artist begins to paint life-filled landscapes and still lifes. The paintings of that period of Van Gogh's work seemed to flow with light, thanks to the use of blue, golden yellow, red colors, as well as writing them using the technique of small strokes.

The end of a short, but so intense artistic activity the life of Vincent van Gogh, is considered the dawn of his creativity. It is in the last years of his life that the creator determines his style and technique of painting.

1853-1890 .

The biography below is by no means a complete and thorough study of the life of Vincent van Gogh. On the contrary, it is only short review some of important events chronicling the life of Vincent Van Gogh. early years

Vincent van Gogh was born in Groot Zundert, the Netherlands on March 30, 1853. A year before Vincent van Gogh was born, his mother gave birth to her first stillborn child, also named Vincent. Thus Vincent, being the second, became the eldest of the children. There has been much speculation that Vincent Van Gogh suffered psychological trauma as a result of this fact. This theory remains a theory, since there are no real historical facts in her support.

Van Gogh was the son of Theodore Van Gogh (1822-85), a Dutch Reformed Church pastor, and Anna Cornelia Carbenthus (1819-1907). Unfortunately, there is practically no information about the first ten years of Vincent van Gogh's life. Since 1864 Vincent spent a couple of years at a boarding school in Zevenbergen, and then continued his studies at the King William II School in Tilburg for about two years. In 1868, Van Gogh left his studies and returned home at the age of 15.

In 1869, Vincent van Gogh began working for Goupil&Cie, a firm of art dealers in The Hague. Van Gogh's family had long been associated with the art world - Vincent's uncles, Cornelis and Vincent, were art dealers. His younger brother Theo worked as an art dealer his entire adult life and, as a result, had a huge influence on the later stages of Vincent's career as an artist.

Vincent was relatively successful as an art dealer and worked for Goupil&Cie for seven years. In 1873 he was transferred to the company's London branch and quickly fell under the spell of England's cultural climate. At the end of August, Vincent rents a room in the home of Ursula Loyer and her daughter Eugenie at 87 Hackford Road. Vincent is believed to have been romantically inclined toward Eugenie, but many early biographers erroneously call Eugenie by her mother's name, Ursula. To add to the years-long confusion of names, recent evidence suggests that Vincent was not in love with Eugenie, but was in love with a fellow countrywoman named Caroline Haanebeek. True, this information remains unconvincing.

Vincent Van Gogh spent two years in London. During this time he visited many art galleries and museums and became a big fan of British writers such as George Eliot and Charles Dickens. Van Gogh was also a great admirer of the work of British engravers. These illustrations inspired and influenced Van Gogh in his later life as an artist.

Relations between Vincent and Goupil&Cie became more tense, and in May 1875 he was transferred to the firm's Paris branch. In Paris, Vincent worked on paintings that were of little interest to him from the point of view of personal tastes. Vincent leaves Goupil & Cie at the end of March 1876 and returns to England, remembering where he spent two, for the most part, very happy and fruitful years.

In April, Vincent van Gogh began teaching at the Reverend William P. Stokes' school in Ramsgate. He was responsible for 24 boys aged 10 to 14. His letters show that Vincent enjoyed teaching. After this he began teaching at another boys' school, the parish of the Rev. T. Jones Slade in Isleworth. IN free time Van Gogh continued to visit galleries and admire many great works of art. He also devoted himself to Bible study - spending many hours reading and re-reading the Gospel. The summer of 1876 marks a time of religious transformation for Vincent Van Gogh. Although he grew up in a religious family, he did not imagine that he would seriously consider dedicating his life to the Church.

As a means of making the transition from teacher to priest, Vincent asks Reverend Jones to give him more responsibilities typical of the clergy. Jones agrees and Vincent began speaking at prayer meetings in the Turnham Green parish. These speeches served as a means of preparing Vincent for a goal he had long been working towards: his first Sunday sermon. Although Vincent himself was delighted with this prospect as a preacher, his sermons were somewhat dull and lifeless. Like his father, Vincent had a passion for preaching, but something was missing.

After visiting his family in the Netherlands for Christmas, Vincent Van Gogh remains in his homeland. After briefly working in a bookshop in Dordrecht at the beginning of 1877, Vincent went to Amsterdam from 9 May to prepare for the entrance exams to the university, where he was to study theology. Vincent learns Greek, Latin, and mathematics, but ultimately drops out after fifteen months. Vincent later described this period as, " worst time in my life." In November, after a three-month probationary period, Vincent failed to attend the missionary school in Laeken. Vincent van Gogh eventually agreed with the church to begin preaching with probationary period in one of the harshest and poorest areas in Western Europe: Borinage coal mining area, Belgium.

In January 1879, Vincent began his duties as a minister to miners and their families in the mountain village of Wasmes. Vincent felt a strong emotional attachment to the miners. He saw and sympathized with their terrible working conditions, and as their spiritual leader, he did everything he could to ease the burden of their lives. Unfortunately, this altruistic desire reached such fanatical proportions that Vincent began donating much of his food and clothing to the poor people under his tutelage. Despite Vincent's noble intentions, representatives of the Church strictly condemned Van Gogh's asceticism and removed him from his position in July. Refusing to leave the area, Van Gogh moved to neighboring village, Cuesmes, where he existed in extreme poverty. For the next year, Vincent struggled to live day to day and, although unable to help the human village in any official capacity as a cleric, he still decided to remain a member of their community. The next year was so difficult that the question of survival for Vincent van Gogh was faced every day. And although he could not help people as an official representative of the church, he remains in the village. On a noteworthy occasion for Van Gogh, Vincent decided to visit the home of Jules Breton, a French artist whom he admired. Vincent had only ten francs in his pocket and walked the entire 70 km to Courrières, France, to see Breton. However, Vincent was too timid to get through to Breton. So without a positive result and completely discouraged, Vincent returned back to Cuesmes.

It was then that Vincent began to draw miners, their families and life in harsh conditions. At this turning point in fate, Vincent Van Gogh chooses his next and final career direction: as an artist.

Vincent Van Gogh as artist

In the autumn of 1880, after more than a year of living in poverty in the Borinage, Vincent went to Brussels to begin his studies at the Academy of Fine Arts. Vincent was inspired to begin his studies with financial support from his brother Theo. Vincent and Theo have always been close, both as children and throughout most of their lives. adult life they maintained constant correspondence. Based on this correspondence, there are more than 800 letters, the idea of ​​Van Gogh’s life is based.

1881 would prove to be a turbulent year for Vincent van Gogh. Vincent is successfully studying at the Academy of Fine Arts in Brussels. Although biographers have different opinions on the details of this period. In any case, Vincent continues to study at his own discretion, taking examples from books. In the summer, Vincent again visits his parents, who already live in Etten. There he meets and develops romantic feelings for his widowed cousin Cornelia Adrian Vos Stricker (Key). But Key's unrequited love and break with his parents lead to his imminent departure to The Hague.

Despite the failures, Van Gogh works hard and improves under the guidance of Anton Mauve (a famous artist and his distant relative). Their relationship was good, but it deteriorated due to tension when Vincent began living with a prostitute.

Vincent Van Gogh met Christina Maria Hornik, nicknamed Sin (1850-1904) at the end of February 1882 in The Hague. At that time she was already pregnant with her second child. Vincent lived with Sin for the next year and a half. Their relationship was turbulent, partly due to the complexity of the characters of both individuals, but also due to the imprint of a life of complete poverty. From Vincent's letters to Theo, it becomes clear how well Van Gogh treated Sin's children, but drawing is his first and most important passion, the rest fades into the background. Sin and her children posed for dozens of Vincent's drawings, and his talent as an artist grew significantly during this period. His earlier, more primitive drawings of miners in the Borinage give way to a much more refined manner and emotion in the work.

In 1883, Vincent began experimenting with oil paints, he used oil paints before, but now this is his main direction. In the same year, he breaks up with Sin. Vincent leaves The Hague in mid-September to move to Drenthe. Over the next six weeks, Vincent leads a nomadic life, moving throughout the region working on landscapes and paintings of peasants.

Last time, Vincent returns to his parents' house, now in Nuenen, at the end of 1883. For next year Vincent Van Gogh continued to improve his skills. He created dozens of paintings and drawings during this period: weavers, counters and other portraits. Local peasants turned out to be his favorite subjects - partly because Van Gogh felt a strong kinship with the poor working people. IN romantic life Another episode occurs in Vincent. This time it's dramatic. Margot Begemann (1841-1907), whose family lived next door to Vincent's parents, was in love with Vincent and the emotional turmoil in the relationship led her to attempt suicide by poison. Vincent was greatly shocked by this incident. Margot eventually recovered, but the incident greatly upset Vincent. He himself returned to this episode several times in letters to Theo.

1885: First Great Works

In the early months of 1885, Van Gogh continued his series of portraits of peasants. Vincent viewed them as good practice where he could improve his skills. Vincent works productively during March and April. At the end of March, he takes a short break from work due to the death of his father, relations with whom in recent years have been very tense. Several years of hard work, improving skills and technology, and in 1885 Vincent approached his first serious work, “The Potato Eaters.”

Vincent worked on The Potato Eaters during April 1885. He prepared several sketches in advance and worked on this painting in the studio. Vincent was so inspired by the success that even criticism from his friend Anthony Van Rappard only led to a breakup. This new stage in the life and work of Van Gogh.

Van Gogh continued to work in 1885, he did not calm down and at the beginning of 1886 he entered the Art Academy in Antwerp. He once again comes to the conclusion that formal training is too narrow for him. Vincent's choice is practical work, the only way he can hone his skills, as evidenced by his "Potato Eaters". After four weeks Van Gogh leaves the Academy. He is interested in new methods, technology, self-improvement, all of which Vincent can no longer get in Holland, his path lies to Paris.

New Beginning: Paris

In 1886, Vincent Van Gogh came to Paris without warning to visit his brother Theo. Before that, in letters he wrote to his brother, about the need to move to Paris for further development. Theo, in turn, knowing Vincent's complex character, resisted this move. But Theo had no choice and his brother had to be accepted.

The period of life in Paris for Van Gogh is important in terms of his role in transformation as an artist. Unfortunately, this period of Vincent's life (two years in Paris) is one of the least documented. Since the description of Van Gogh’s life is based on his correspondence with Theo, and this Vincent lived with Theo (Montmartre district, 54 Lepic Street) and naturally there was no correspondence.

However, the importance of Vincent's time in Paris is clear. Theo, as an art dealer, had many contacts among artists and Vincent soon entered this circle. During his two years in Paris, Van Gogh visited early Impressionist exhibitions (which included works by Edgar Degas, Claude Monet, Auguste Renoir, Camille Pissarro, Georges Seurat and Sisley). There is no doubt that Van Gogh was influenced by the Impressionists, but he always remained true to his own unique style. Over the course of two years, Van Gogh adopted some of the techniques of the Impressionists.

Vincent enjoyed painting around Paris during 1886. His palette began to move away from the dark, traditional colors of his homeland and would include the brighter hues of the Impressionists. Vincent became interested in Japanese art, due to Japan's cultural isolation at that time. Western world was fascinated by everything Japanese and Vincent acquired several Japanese prints. As a result, Japanese art had an influence on Van Gogh and throughout the future this can be read in his works.

Throughout 1887, Van Gogh honed his skills and practiced a lot. His active and stormy personality does not calm down; Vincent, without sparing his health, eats poorly, abuses alcohol and smoking. His hopes that living with his brother he would be able to control his expenses were not justified. Relations with Theo are tense. .

As has often happened throughout his life, poor weather conditions during the winter months make Vincent irritable and depressed. He is depressed, wants to see and feel the colors of nature. The winter months of 1887-1888 were not easy. Van Gogh decided to leave Paris to follow the sun; his road lay in Arles.

Vincent Van Gogh moved to Arles in early 1888 for a number of reasons. Tired of the hectic energy of Paris and the long winter months, Van Gogh strives for the warm sun of Provence. Another motivation is Vincent's dream of creating a kind of artists' commune in Arles, where his fellow Parisians could find refuge, where they could work together and support each other in achieving common goals. Van Gogh boarded a train from Paris to Arles on February 20, 1888, inspired by his dream for a prosperous future, and watched the landscape pass by.

Without a doubt, Van Gogh was not disappointed with Arles in his first few weeks there. While searching for the sun, Vincent saw Arles unusually cold and covered with snow. This must have been disheartening for Vincent, who left everyone he knew to find warmth and restoration in the south. However, the bad weather was short-lived and Vincent began painting some of the most beloved work of his career.

As soon as the weather warmed up, Vincent wasted no time in creating his work outdoors. In March, the trees woke up and the landscape looked somewhat gloomy after winter. However, within a month, buds are visible on the trees and Van Gogh paints blooming gardens. Vincent is pleased with his performance and, together with the gardens, feels renewed.

The following months were happy. Vincent rented a room at the Café de la Gare at 10 Place Lamartine at the beginning of May and rented his famous “Yellow House” (at 2 Place Lamartine) for the studio. Vincent won't actually move into the Yellow House until September.

Vincent works hard throughout the spring and summer and begins sending Theo his works. Van Gogh is often perceived today as an irritable and lonely person. But in reality, he enjoys the company of people and does his best during these months to make friends with many. Although deeply lonely at times. Vincent never gave up hope of creating a commune of artists and began a campaign to persuade Paul Gauguin to join him in the south. The prospect seems unlikely because Gauguin's resettlement would require even more financial assistance from Theo, who have reached their limit.

At the end of July, Van Gogh's uncle died and left an inheritance to Theo. This financial influx allows Theo to sponsor Gauguin's move to Arles. Theo was interested in this move, as a brother and as business man. Theo knows that Vincent would be happier and more relaxed in Gauguin's company, and Theo also hopes that the paintings he will receive from Gauguin, in exchange for his support, will be profitable. Unlike Vincent, Paul Gauguin is not entirely confident in the success of his work.

Despite the improvement in Theo's financial affairs, Vincent remained true to himself and spent almost everything on art supplies and furnishings in the apartment. Gauguin arrived in Arles by train early in the morning of October 23.

Over the next two months, this move would be crucial, with disastrous consequences for both Vincent van Gogh and Paul Gauguin. Initially, Van Gogh and Gauguin got along well, worked on the outskirts of Arles, and discussed their art. As the weeks passed, the weather worsened, Vincent Van Gogh and Paul Gauguin were forced to stay at home more and more often. The temperament of both artists, forced to work in the same room, gives rise to many conflicts.

Relations between Van Gogh and Gauguin deteriorated during December. Vincent wrote that their heated arguments became more and more frequent. December 23 Vincent Van Gogh, in a fit of madness, mutilated the lower part of his left ear. Van Gogh cut off part of his left earlobe, wrapped it in cloth and gave it to a prostitute. Vincent then returned to his apartment, where he lost consciousness. He was found by police and admitted to the Hôtel-Dieu hospital in Arles. After sending the telegram to Theo, Gauguin immediately left for Paris, without visiting Van Gogh in the hospital. They will never meet in person again, although relations will improve..

During his stay in the hospital, Vincent was under the care of Dr. Felix Ray (1867-1932). The first week after the injury was crucial for Van Gogh's life - both psychologically and physically. He suffered major blood loss and continued to suffer from severe seizures. Theo, who rushed from Paris to Arles, was sure that Vincent would die, but by the end of December and in the first days of January Vincent had almost fully recovered.

The first weeks of 1889 were not easy for Vincent van Gogh. After recovering, Vincent returned to his Yellow House, but continued to visit Dr. Ray for observations and wear a headband. After his recovery, Vincent was on the rise, but problems with money and the departure of his close friend, Joseph Roulin (1841-1903), who accepted a better offer and moved with his entire family to Marseille. Roulin was expensive and true friend Vincent spends most of his time in Arles.

During January and early February, Vincent worked a lot, during which time he created "Sunflowers" and "Lullaby". However, on February 7, another attack Vincent. He was taken to Hotel-Dieu Hospital for observation. Van Gogh is in the hospital for ten days, but then returns to the Yellow House.

By this time, some of the citizens of Arles had become alarmed by Vincent's behavior and signed a petition detailing the problem. The petition was presented to the mayor of Arles, and ultimately the chief of police ordered Van Gogh to return to the Hôtel-Dieu hospital. Vincent remained in hospital for the next six weeks and was allowed to leave the hospital to paint. It was a productive but emotionally difficult moment for Van Gogh. As was the case the year before, Van Gogh returns to the blooming gardens around Arles. But even when he creates one of his best works, Vincent realizes that his condition is unstable. And after a discussion with Theo, he agrees to voluntary treatment at a specialized clinic in Saint-Paul-de-Mausole in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence. Van Gogh leaves Arles on May 8th.

Upon arrival at the clinic, Van Gogh was placed under the care of Dr. Théophile Zacharie Peyron Auguste (1827-95). After examining Vincent, Dr. Peyron becomes convinced that his patient suffers from epilepsy - a diagnosis that remains one of the most likely to determine Van Gogh's condition, even today. Being in the clinic put pressure on Van Gogh, he was discouraged by the screams of other patients and the bad food. This atmosphere depresses him. Van Gogh's treatment included hydrotherapy, frequent immersion in a large bath of water. Although this “therapy” was not cruel, in any case, it was the least useful in terms of helping to restore Vincent’s mental health.

As the weeks passed, Vincent's mental state remained stable and he was allowed to resume work. The staff was encouraged by Van Gogh's progress, and in mid-June Van Gogh created Starry Night.

Van Gogh's relatively calm state does not last long, until mid-July. This time Vincent tried to swallow his paints, and as a result, access to materials was limited. After this exacerbation, he quickly recovers, Vincent is pulled out by his art. After another week, Doctor Peyron allows Van Gogh to resume his work. The resumption of work coincided with an improvement mental state. Vincent writes to Theo, describing his poor physical condition.

For two months, Van Gogh was unable to leave his room and writes to Theo that when he goes outside, he is overcome by intense loneliness. In the coming weeks, Vincent again overcomes his worries and resumes work. During this time, Vincent plans to leave the Saint-Rémy clinic. He expresses these thoughts to Theo, who begins to make inquiries about possible alternatives for providing medical care for Vincent - this time much closer to Paris.

Mental and physical health Van Gogh's paintings remained fairly stable throughout the remainder of 1889. Theo's health improved and he helped organize the Octave Maus exhibition in Brussels, which featured six of Vincent's paintings. Vincent is delighted with the venture and remains very productive throughout this time.

On December 23, 1889, a year after the attack in which Vincent cut off his earlobe, Van Gogh was struck down by another week-long attack. The exacerbation was serious and lasted about a week, but Vincent recovered quickly enough and resumed painting. Unfortunately, Van Gogh suffers big amount seizures during the first months of 1890. These exacerbations become frequent. Ironically, during this time, when Van Gogh was probably at his most mentally depressed, his work finally begins to receive critical acclaim. The news of this pushes Vincent to hope to leave the clinic and return to the north.

After consultations, Theo realizes that best solution for Vincent will return to Paris, under the care of Dr. Paul Gachet (1828-1909), a physician in Auvers-sur-Oise near Paris. Vincent agrees to Theo's plans and completes his treatment in Saint-Rémy. On May 16, 1890, Vincent Van Gogh left the clinic and boarded an overnight train to Paris.

"Sadness will last forever...

Vincent's journey to Paris was uneventful and he was greeted by Theo upon his arrival. Vincent stayed with Theo, his wife Joanna and their newborn son, Vincent Willem (called Vincent) for three pleasant days. Having never liked the hustle and bustle of city life, Vincent felt some tension and decided to leave Paris for the quieter Auvers-sur-Oise.

Vincent met Dr. Gachet shortly after his arrival in Auvers. And although Van Gogh was initially impressed by Gachet, he later expressed serious doubts about his competence. Despite his misgivings, Vincent finds himself a room in a small hotel owned by Arthur Gustave Ravoux and immediately begins to paint the area around Auvers-sur-Oise.

Over the next two weeks, Van Gogh's opinion of Gache softens. Vincent was pleased with Auvers-sur-Oise, which afforded him the freedom denied him at Saint-Rémy, while at the same time providing him with broad themes for his painting and drawing. The first weeks in Auvers were pleasant and uneventful for Vincent Van Gogh. On June 8, Theo, Joe and the child came to Auvers to visit Vincent and Gachet. Vincent spends a very pleasant day with his family. Apparently, Vincent was completely restored - mentally and physically.

During June, Vincent remained in good mood and was extremely productive, creating "Portrait of Doctor Gachet" and "Church at Auvers." The initial calm of the first month in Auvers was interrupted when Vincent received news that his nephew was seriously ill. Theo is going through the most difficult time: uncertainty about his own career and future, ongoing health problems and the illness of his son. After the child's recovery, Vincent decided to visit Theo and his family on July 6 and took an early train. Very little is known about the visit. Vincent soon tires and quickly returns to the quieter Auvers.

Over the next three weeks, Vincent resumed his work and, as can be seen from his letters, was quite happy. In his letters, Vincent writes that he is currently feeling well and is calm, comparing his condition with last year. Vincent was immersed in the fields and plains around Auvers and produced some brilliant landscapes during July. Vincent's life becomes more stable and he works a lot.

Nothing foreshadowed such a denouement. On July 27, 1890, Vincent Van Gogh goes to the fields with an easel and paints. There he took out a revolver and shot himself in the chest. Vincent managed to walk back to the Ravoux Inn, where he collapsed into bed. The decision was made not to try to remove the bullet in Vincent's chest and Gachet wrote an urgent letter to Theo. Unfortunately, Dr. Gachet did not have Theo's home address and had to write to him at the gallery where he worked. This did not cause any major delay and Theo arrived the next day.

Vincent and Theo remained together during the last hours of Vincent's life. Theo was devoted to his brother, holding him and speaking to him in Dutch. Vincent seemed resigned to his fate and Theo later wrote that Vincent himself wanted to die as Theo sat at his bedside. Last words Vincent's were "Sadness will last forever."

Vincent Van Gogh died at 1:30 am. July 29, 1890. Auvers Church refused to allow Vincent to be buried in its cemetery because Vincent had committed suicide. In the nearby village of Meri, however, they agreed to allow the burial and the funeral took place on July 30.

Vincent Willem van Gogh (Dutch: Vincent Willem van Gogh; March 30, 1853, Grot-Zundert, near Breda, Netherlands - July 29, 1890, Auvers-sur-Oise, France) - Dutch post-impressionist artist.

Biography of Vincent Van Gogh

Vincent van Gogh born in the Dutch town of Groot-Zundert on March 30, 1853. Van Gogh was the first child in the family (not counting his brother, who was stillborn). His father's name was Theodore Van Gogh, his mother's name was Carnelia. They had a large family: 2 sons and three daughters. In Van Gogh's family, all the men dealt with paintings in one way or another, or served the church. By 1869, without even finishing school, he began working in a company that sold paintings. To tell the truth, Van Gogh was not good at selling paintings, but he had a boundless love for painting, and he was also good at languages. In 1873, at the age of 20, he came to London, where he spent 2 years that changed his whole life.

Van Gogh lived happily in London. He had a very good salary, which was enough to visit various art galleries and museums. He even bought himself a top hat, which he simply could not live without in London. Everything was going to the point that Van Gogh could become a successful merchant, but ... as often happens, love, yes, exactly love, got in the way of his career. Van Gogh fell madly in love with the daughter of his landlady, but upon learning that she was already engaged, he became very withdrawn and became indifferent to his work. When he returned to Paris he was fired.

In 1877, Van Gogh began living in Holland again, and increasingly found solace in religion. After moving to Amsterdam, he began studying to become a priest, but soon dropped out of his studies, as the situation at the faculty did not suit him.

In 1886, at the beginning of March, Van Gogh moved to Paris to live with his brother Theo, and lived in his apartment. There he takes painting lessons from Fernand Cormon, and meets such personalities as Pissarro, Gauguin and many other artists. Very quickly he forgets all the darkness of Dutch life, and quickly gains respect as an artist. He draws clearly and brightly in the style of impressionism and post-impressionism.

Vincent Van Gogh After spending 3 months at an evangelical school located in Brussels, he became a preacher. He distributed money and clothes to the needy poor, although he himself was not well off. This aroused suspicion among the church authorities, and his activities were banned. He did not lose heart and found solace in drawing.

By the age of 27, Van Gogh understood what his calling was in this life, and decided that he must become an artist at all costs. Although Van Gogh took drawing lessons, he can confidently be considered self-taught, because he himself studied many books, tutorials, and copied paintings by famous artists. At first he thought of becoming an illustrator, but then, when he took lessons from his artist relative Anton Mouve, he painted his first works in oils.

It seemed that life began to get better, but Van Gogh again began to be haunted by failures, and love ones at that.

His cousin Keya Vos became a widow. He really liked her, but he received a refusal, which he experienced for a long time. In addition, because of Kei, he had a very serious quarrel with his father. This disagreement was the reason for Vincent's move to The Hague. It was there that he met Klazina Maria Hoornik, who was girl lung behavior. Van Gogh lived with her for almost a year, and more than once he had to be treated for sexually transmitted diseases. He wanted to save this poor woman, and even thought of marrying her. But then his family intervened, and thoughts of marriage were simply dispelled.

Returning to his homeland to his parents, who had already moved to Nyonen by that time, his skills began to improve.

He spent 2 years in his homeland. In 1885 Vincent settled in Antwerp, where he attended classes at the Academy of Arts. Then, in 1886, Van Gogh returned to Paris again, to his brother Theo, who throughout his life helped him, both morally and financially. France became Van Gogh's second home. It was in it that he lived the rest of his life. He didn't feel like a stranger here. Van Gogh drank a lot and had a very explosive temper. He could be described as a difficult person to deal with.

In 1888 he moved to Arles. Locals were not happy to see him in their town, which was located in the south of France. They considered him an abnormal sleepwalker. Despite this, Vincent found friends here and felt quite good. Over time, he came up with the idea of ​​​​creating a settlement here for artists, which he shared with his friend Gauguin. Everything was going well, but there was a disagreement between the artists. Van Gogh rushed at Gauguin, who had already become an enemy, with a razor. Gauguin barely escaped with his feet, miraculously surviving. Out of anger at failure, Van Gogh cut off part of his left ear. After spending 2 weeks in psychiatric clinic he returned there again in 1889, as he began to suffer from hallucinations.

In May 1890, he finally left the mental asylum and went to Paris to live with his brother Theo and his wife, who had just given birth to a boy, who was named Vincent in honor of his uncle. Life began to improve, and Van Gogh was even happy, but his illness returned again. On July 27, 1890, Vincent Van Gogh shot himself in the chest with a pistol. He died in the arms of his brother Theo, who loved him very much. Six months later, Theo also died. The brothers are buried in the Auvers cemetery nearby.

Van Gogh's work

Vincent Van Gogh (1853 - 1890) is considered a great Dutch artist, which had a very strong influence on impressionism in art. His works, created over a ten-year period, are striking in their color, carelessness and roughness of strokes, and images of a mentally ill person, exhausted by suffering, who committed suicide.

Van Gogh became one of the greatest Post-Impressionist artists.

He can be considered self-taught, because... studied painting by copying paintings by old masters. During his life in the Netherlands, Van G. painted pictures about nature, labor and the life of peasants and workers, which he observed around him (“The Potato Eaters”).

In 1886, he moved to Paris and entered the studio of F. Cormon, where he met A. Toulouse-Lautrec and E. Bernard. Inspired by the paintings of the Impressionists and Japanese prints The artist’s style changed: an intense color scheme and a broad, energetic brush stroke characteristic of the late Van G. appeared (“Boulevard of Clichy”, “Portrait of Father Tanguy”).

In 1888 he moved to the south of France, to the town of Arles. This was the most fruitful period of the artist’s work. During his life, Van G. created more than 800 paintings and 700 drawings in a variety of genres, but his talent was most clearly manifested in the landscape: it was in it that his choleric explosive temperament found an outlet. The moving, nervous pictorial texture of his paintings reflected state of mind artist: he suffered from mental illness, which ultimately led him to suicide.

Features of creativity

“Much remains unclear and controversial to this day in the pathography of this severe bionegative personality. It can be assumed that there is a syphilitic provocation of schizo-epileptic psychosis. His feverish creativity is quite comparable to the increased productivity of the brain before the onset of syphilitic brain disease, as was the case with Nietzsche, Maupassant, and Schumann. Van Gogh presents good example how a mediocre talent, thanks to psychosis, turned into an internationally recognized genius.”

“The peculiar bipolarity, so clearly expressed in the life and psychosis of this remarkable patient, is simultaneously expressed in his artistic creativity. Essentially the style of his works remains the same all the time. Only the sinuous lines are repeated more and more often, giving his paintings a spirit of unbridledness, which reaches its culmination point in his last work, where the upward striving and the inevitability of destruction, fall, and destruction are clearly emphasized. These two movements - the movement of ascent and the movement of fall - form the structural basis of epileptic manifestations, just as two poles form the basis of the epileptoid constitution."

“Van Gogh painted brilliant paintings in the intervals between attacks. And the main secret of his genius was the extraordinary purity of consciousness and the special creative enthusiasm that arose as a result of his illness between attacks. F.M. also wrote about this special state of consciousness. Dostoevsky, who at one time suffered from similar attacks of mysterious mental disorder.”

Bright colors of Van Gogh

Dreaming of a brotherhood of artists and collective creativity, he completely forgot that he himself was an incorrigible individualist, irreconcilable to the point of restraint in matters of life and art. But this was also his strength. You need to have a sufficiently trained eye to distinguish Monet's paintings from paintings by, for example, Sisley. But only once having seen “Red Vineyards”, you will never confuse Van Gogh’s works with anyone else. Every line and stroke is an expression of his personality.

The dominant feature of the impressionistic system is color. In Van Gogh’s painting system, everything is equal and crushed into one inimitable bright ensemble: rhythm, color, texture, line, form.

At first glance, this seems like a bit of a stretch. Are the “red vineyards” pushing around with a color unheard of in intensity, isn’t the ringing chord of cobalt blue active in “The Sea at Sainte-Marie”, aren’t the colors of “Landscape at Auvers after the Rain” dazzlingly pure and sonorous, next to which any impressionistic painting looks hopelessly faded?

Exaggeratedly bright, these colors have the ability to sound in any intonation throughout the entire emotional range - from burning pain to the most delicate shades of joy. The sounding colors alternately intertwine into a softly and subtly harmonized melody, and then rear up in ear-piercing dissonance. Just as there are minor and major scales in music, so the colors of Van Gogh’s palette are divided in two. For Van Gogh, cold and warm are like life and death. At the head of the opposing camps are yellow and blue, both colors are deeply symbolic. However, this “symbolism” has the same living flesh as Vangogh’s ideal of beauty.

Van Gogh saw some kind of bright beginning in the yellow paint from gently lemon to intense orange. The color of the sun and ripened bread in his understanding was the color of joy, solar warmth, human kindness, benevolence, love and happiness - all that in his understanding was included in the concept of “life”. The opposite in meaning is blue, from blue to almost black-lead - the color of sadness, infinity, melancholy, despair, mental anguish, fatal inevitability and, ultimately, death. Late paintings Van Gogh is the arena of the collision of these two colors. They are like the struggle between good and evil, daylight and darkness, hope and despair. Emotional and psychological possibilities of color - subject constant thoughts Van Gogh: “I hope to make a discovery in this area, for example, to express the feelings of two lovers by a combination of two complementary colors, their mixing and contrast, the mysterious vibration of related tones. Or express the thought that has arisen in the brain with the radiance of a light tone on a dark background...”

Speaking about Van Gogh, Tugendhold noted: “...the notes of his experiences are the graphic rhythms of things and the response of the heartbeat.” The concept of peace is unknown to Van Gogh's art. His element is movement.

In Van Gogh’s eyes, it is the same life, which means the ability to think, feel, and empathize. Take a closer look at the painting of the “red vineyards”. The brushstrokes, thrown onto the canvas by a swift hand, run, rush, collide, scatter again. Similar to dashes, dots, blots, commas, they are a transcript of Vangogh’s vision. From their cascades and whirlpools, simplified and expressive forms are born. They are a line that is composed into a drawing. Their relief - sometimes barely outlined, sometimes piled up in massive clumps - like plowed earth, forms a delightful, picturesque texture. And from all this a huge image emerges: in the scorching heat of the sun, like sinners on fire, the grapevines are writhing, trying to tear themselves away from the rich purple earth, to escape from the hands of the winegrowers, and now the peaceful bustle of the harvest looks like a fight between man and nature.

So, does that mean color still dominates? But aren’t these colors at the same time rhythm, line, form, and texture? This is precisely the most important feature of Van Gogh’s pictorial language, in which he speaks to us through his paintings.

It is often believed that Van Gogh's painting is a kind of uncontrollable emotional element, whipped up by unbridled insight. This misconception is “helped” by the uniqueness artistic manner Van Gogh, indeed, seemingly spontaneous, but in fact subtly calculated, thoughtful: “Work and sober calculation, the mind is extremely tense, like an actor playing a difficult role, when you have to think about a thousand things in one half hour...”

Van Gogh's inheritance and innovation

Van Gogh's inheritance

• [Mother’s sister] “...Epileptic seizures, which indicates a severe nervous heredity, which also affects Anna Cornelia herself. Naturally gentle and loving, she is prone to unexpected outbursts of anger.”
• [Brother Theo] “... died six months after Vincent’s suicide in a mental hospital in Utrecht, having lived 33 years.”
• “None of Van Gogh’s siblings had epilepsy, while it is absolutely certain that the younger sister suffered from schizophrenia and spent 32 years in a mental hospital.”

The human soul... not cathedrals

Let's turn to Van Gogh:

“I prefer to paint people’s eyes rather than cathedrals... the human soul, even the soul of an unfortunate beggar or a street girl, in my opinion, is much more interesting.”

“Whoever writes peasant life will stand the test of time better than the makers of cardinal receptions and harems written in Paris.” “I will remain myself, and even in crude works I will say strict, rude, but truthful things.” “The worker against the bourgeoisie is as ill-founded as a hundred years ago the third estate was against the other two.”

Could a person who, in these and a thousand similar statements, explain the meaning of life and art, count on success with “ powerful of the world this? " The bourgeois environment rejected Van Gogh.

Van Gogh had the only weapon against rejection - confidence in the correctness of his chosen path and work.

“Art is a struggle... it’s better to do nothing than to express yourself weakly.” “You have to work like several blacks.” He turns even a half-starved existence into a stimulus for creativity: “In the harsh trials of poverty, you learn to look at things with completely different eyes.”

The bourgeois public does not forgive innovation, and Van Gogh was an innovator in the most direct and genuine sense of the word. His reading of the sublime and beautiful came through an understanding of the inner essence of objects and phenomena: from insignificant ones like torn shoes to crushing cosmic hurricanes. The ability to present these seemingly disparate values ​​on an equally enormous artistic scale put Van Gogh not only outside the official aesthetic concept of academic artists, but also forced him to go beyond the boundaries of impressionistic painting.

Vincent Van Gogh Quotes

(from letters to brother Theo)

• There is nothing more artistic than loving people.
• When something in you says: “You are not an artist,” immediately begin to write, my boy, - only in this way will you silence this inner voice. The one who, having heard it, runs to his friends and complains about his misfortune, loses part of his courage, part of the best that is in him.
• And you shouldn’t take your shortcomings too seriously, for those who don’t have them still suffer from one thing - the absence of shortcomings; the one who believes that he has achieved perfect wisdom will do well if he grows stupid again.
• A man carries a bright flame in his soul, but no one wants to bask near him; passers-by notice only the smoke escaping through the chimney and go on their way.
• When reading books, as well as looking at paintings, one must neither doubt nor hesitate: one must be confident in oneself and find beautiful what is beautiful.
• What is drawing? How is it mastered? This is the ability to break through the iron wall that stands between what you feel and what you can do. How can one penetrate such a wall? In my opinion, banging your head against it is useless; you need to slowly and patiently dig it up and drill it out.
• Blessed is he who has found his business.
• I prefer not to say anything at all than to express myself indistinctly.
• I admit, I also need beauty and sublimity, but even more something else, for example: kindness, responsiveness, tenderness.
• You are a realist yourself, so bear with my realism.
• A person only needs to consistently love what is worthy of love, and not waste his feelings on insignificant, unworthy and insignificant objects.
• We cannot allow melancholy to stagnate in our souls, like water in a swamp.
• When I see the weak trampled underfoot, I begin to doubt the value of what is called progress and civilization.

Bibliography

• Van Gogh.Letters. Per. from Dutch - L.-M., 1966.
• Rewald J. Post-Impressionism. Per. from English T. 1. - L.-M, 1962.
• Perryucho A. The Life of Van Gogh. Per. from French - M., 1973.
• Murina Elena. Van Gogh. - M.: Art, 1978. - 440 p. - 30,000 copies.
• Dmitrieva N. A. Vincent Van Gogh. Man and artist. - M., 1980.
• Stone I. Thirst for Life (book). The Tale of Vincent Van Gogh. Per. from English - M., Pravda, 1988.
• Constantino PorcuVan Gogh. Zijn leven en de kunst. (from the Kunstklassiekers series) Netherlands, 2004.
• Wolf StadlerVincent van Gogh. (from the De Grote Meesters series) Amsterdam Boek, 1974.
• Frank KoolsVincent van Gogh en zijn geboorteplaats: als een boer van Zundert. De Walburg Pers, 1990.
• G. Kozlov, “The Legend of Van Gogh”, “Around the World”, No. 7, 2007.
• Van Gogh V. Letters to friends / Trans. from fr. P. Melkova. - St. Petersburg: Azbuka, Azbuka-Atticus, 2012. - 224 p. - “ABC Classic” series - 5,000 copies, ISBN 978-5-389-03122-7
• Gordeeva M., Perova D. Vincent Van Gogh / In the book: Great Artists - T.18 - Kyiv, JSC " TVNZ- Ukraine", 2010. - 48 p.

Vincent Willem Van Gogh (1853-1890) is a famous Dutch artist whose work had a huge influence on the painting of the 19th-20th centuries. His creative path was short-lived, only ten years, but during this time he managed to create about 2,100 paintings, 860 of which were painted in oil. Created in artistic direction post-impressionism. He painted portraits, landscapes, still lifes, and self-portraits. He lived in poverty and constant anxiety, lost his mind and committed suicide, only after this did critics appreciate his great work.

Birth and family

Vincent was born in the southern Dutch province of North Brabant, which is located near the border with Belgium. There was a small village of Grot-Zundert, where on March 30, 1853 the future great artist.

His father, Theodore Van Gogh, born in 1822, was a Protestant minister.
Mom, Anna Cornelia Carbentus, was from The Hague, which is located in the western Netherlands. Her father bound and sold books.

In total, seven children were born into the family, Vincent was the second, but the oldest, because the first child died. The name Vincent, meaning “winner,” was intended for the first son; his mother and father dreamed that he would grow up, become successful in life and glorify their family. That was the name of my paternal grandfather, who served in the Protestant church all his life. But a month and a half after birth, the child died, his death was a heavy blow, the parents were inconsolable in their grief. However, a year passed and they had a second baby, whom they decided to call Vincent again in honor of his deceased brother. He became the great winner who brought glory to the Van Gogh family.

Two years after the birth of Vincent, a girl, Anna Cornelia, appeared in the family. In 1857, the boy Theodorus (Theo) was born, who later became a famous art dealer in Holland, in 1859, sister Elizabeth Huberta (Liz), in 1862, another sister Willemina Jacoba (Wil), and in 1867, the boy Cornelis (Cor) .

Childhood

Among all the children, Vincent was the most boring, difficult and wayward, he had strange manners, for which he often received punishment. The governess, who was in charge of raising the children, loved Vincent less than the others and did not believe that anything good could come of him.

He grew up gloomy and lonely. While the rest of the children ran around the house and disturbed their father’s preparation for the pastor’s sermon, Vincent retreated into seclusion. He went to wander around the countryside, carefully examined plants and flowers, braided hair from woolen threads, combining bright shades and admiring the play of colors.

However, as soon as Vincent left his family environment and found himself among people, he became a completely different child. Among his fellow villagers, completely different aspects of his character appeared - modesty, good nature, compassion, friendliness, and courtesy. People saw him as a sweet, quiet, thoughtful and serious child.

Surprisingly, such duality then haunted the artist until the end of his days. He really wanted to have a family and children, but lived his life alone. He created for people, and they responded to him with ridicule.

Among the brothers and sisters, Vincent was closest to Theo; their friendship lasted until the artist's last breath. Van Gogh himself recalled his childhood as empty, cold and gloomy.

Education

When Vincent was seven years old, his parents sent him to study at a village school. However, a year later they took him away from there, and the boy received his education at the governess’s home.

In the fall of 1864, he was taken to a boarding school, which was located 20 kilometers from his native village, in the town of Zevenbergen. Leaving his home left a deep impression on the boy; he suffered greatly and remembered this all his life. During this period, Van Gogh made his first sketches and copies of lithographs.

Two years later he was transferred to another boarding school, it was Willem II College in the city of Tilburg. Best given to a teenager foreign languages, here he began to learn drawing.

In the early spring of 1868, when his studies had not yet ended, Vincent dropped out of college and went home to his parents. This was the end of his formal education. The parents were very worried that their son grew up so unsociable. They were also worried that Vincent was not attracted to any profession. As soon as the father started a conversation with him about the need to work, the son agreed with him, briefly answering: “Of course, work is a necessary condition of human existence.”

Youth

Van Gogh's father spent his entire life serving in not very prestigious parishes, so he dreamed that his son would have a good, well-paid job. He turned to his brother, also named Vincent, to help place young Van Gogh somewhere. Uncle Saint used to work in a large trade and art company, but had already retired and was gradually engaged in the sale of paintings in The Hague. However, he still had connections, and in the summer of 1869 he gave his nephew his recommendations and helped him get a job at the Hague branch of the Gupil company.

Here Vincent underwent initial training as a dealer selling paintings and began to work with great zeal. He showed good results, and already in the summer of 1873 the guy was transferred to the London branch of this company.

Every day, due to the nature of his work, he had to deal with works of art, and the guy began to understand painting very well, and not only understand it, but also deeply appreciate it. On weekends, he went to city galleries, antique shops and museums, where he admired the works French artists Jules Breton and Jean-François Millet. I tried to draw myself, but then, looking at each new drawing, grinned displeasedly.

In London, he lived in the apartment of the widow of a priest, Ursula Louyer. Vincent fell in love with the owner's daughter Evgenia. But for the girl, a young boy who spoke poor English only evoked a feeling of amusement. Van Gogh invited Eugenia to become his wife. She sharply refused, saying that she had been engaged for a long time, and she, a provincial Fleming, was not interested in him. This was the first time Vincent had received such a blow, but the consequences of this mental wound remained for life.

Young Van Gogh was crushed; he did not want to work or live. Vincent wrote in letters to his brother Theo that only God was helping him survive, and he would probably become a priest, like his grandfather and father.

At the end of the spring of 1875, Vincent was transferred to Paris for work. But his lost interest in life led to his dismissal due to poor performance of his duties; even the patronage of Uncle Saint did not help. Van Gogh returned to London, where he worked for some time in a boarding school as an unpaid teacher.

Finding yourself

In 1878, Vincent left for his homeland in the Netherlands. He was already 25 years old, but he still hadn’t decided how to continue living. The parents sent their son to Amsterdam, where he settled with Uncle Jan and began diligently preparing to enter the university to study theology. Very soon, young Van Gogh was disappointed with his studies; he wanted to be as useful as possible for ordinary people, and he decided to leave for the south of Belgium.

Vincent came to the mining district of Borinage as a priest. He rescued miners caught in rubble, held conversations with dying people, and read sermons to miners. With his last money he bought wax and lamp oil, and tore his clothes into bandages. He did not have the slightest idea about medicine, but he helped hopeless patients, and soon they began to consider him “not of this world.”

At the same time, Vincent constantly had the desire to draw. He wanted to sketch out on paper every object he encountered along the way. But Van Gogh understood that painting would distract him from his main work and decided not to start. Every time he wanted to pick up a brush or pencil, he said a firm “no.”

He had nothing. He couldn’t even think about women after Evgenia’s refusal. Vincent's younger brother Theo helped him with money. Relatives insisted that it was time to give up their sermons, which did not bring in income, and return to life, start a home and family.

Creative path

In the end, Vincent decided to listen to the reproaches of his relatives, he left the sermons and determined for himself the only desired and true life path- drawing. He had no experience in this matter, but as Van Gogh himself said: “Where there is a will, there is a way.” He began to master the technique of drawing, study the laws of perspective, and for the sake of art he was ready to endure all sorts of hardships.

In 1880, Brother Theo helped Vincent financially so that he could go to Brussels to study at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts. After studying there for four months, Van Gogh had a fight with the teacher and went home to his parents. At this time, his cousin Kee Vos-Stricker was visiting them, with whom Vincent tried to start a relationship. love relationship. The woman he liked rejected him again. Unable to endure any more failures on the love front, Van Gogh decided to forever give up trying to start a family and devote his life only to painting.

He moved to The Hague, where his mentor in the world of painting was the landscape artist Anton Mauwe. Van Gogh still had no money; Theo supported him. Vincent began to work very hard to repay his younger brother for his kindness and protection. He walked around the city a lot, studying every little detail, the artist was especially interested in the poor neighborhoods. This is how his first paintings “Backyards” and “Rooftops” appeared. View from Van Gogh's studio."

Soon Vincent left The Hague for the province of Drenthe in the north-east of the Netherlands. There he rented a hotel hut, equipped it as a workshop and painted landscapes from morning to night. He was also very fascinated by the topic of peasants, their daily life and work.

Absence art education still affected Van Gogh’s paintings; it was problematic for him to depict human figures. This is how he developed own style, in which a person was deprived of graceful, smooth, measured movements, he seemed to merge with nature and become an integral part of it. This approach is clearly visible in his paintings:

• “Peasant Woman at the Hearth”;
• "Two Women on the Heath";
• "Digging Peasant";
• “Villages planting potatoes”;
• "Two women in the forest";
• "Two peasant women digging potatoes."

In 1886, the artist moved from Drenthe to Paris to live with his brother. This fruitful period was marked in Van Gogh’s work by the fact that his palette became much lighter. Previously, earthy colors predominated in his paintings, but now the purity of blue, red, golden yellow colors appeared:

• “Exterior of a restaurant in Asnieres”;
• “Bridges along the Seine on Asnieres”;
• "Papa Tanguy"
• "On the outskirts of Paris";
• "Factory in Asnieres";
• "Sunset on Montmartre";
• "Corner of the Parc d'Argenson in Asnieres";
• "The courtyard of the hospital in Henri."

Unfortunately, the public did not accept or buy Van Gogh’s paintings. This caused the artist mental anguish. But he continued to work for days on end, and could sit for weeks on end only on tobacco, absinthe and coffee.

Last years of life and death

Drinking large amounts of absinthe resulted in the development of mental disorders. Once, during an attack, Vincent cut off his earlobe, after which he was placed in a psychiatric hospital in the ward for violent people.

In the spring of 1889, he was transported to an institution for the mentally ill in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence. He lived here for a year, during which time he painted about 150 paintings.

At the end of 1889, his works first aroused genuine interest at the Brussels Exhibition, and in January 1890 an enthusiastic article about Van Gogh’s paintings was published. However, the artist was no longer happy with anything.

At the beginning of 1890, he was released from the clinic, and Van Gogh came to his brother. He managed to write his famous paintings:

• "Rural road with cypress trees";
• "Street and stairs in Auvers";
• "Wheat field with crows."

And on July 27, 1890, Vincent shot himself with a revolver, which he bought to scare away birds while painting. He missed and missed the heart, so he died only a day and a half later, on July 29, from loss of blood. He left quietly without saying a word. Van Gogh depicted everything he wanted to say to this world on his canvases. Exactly six months later, his younger brother Theo died.

During the artist's lifetime, only fourteen of his paintings were sold. A hundred years have passed, and his works are included in the list of the most expensive paintings sold in the world. For example, “Self-Portrait with a Cut-Off Ear and a Pipe” was sold in the late 1990s private collection for 90 million dollars.