(Vincent Willem Van Gogh) was born on March 30, 1853 in the village of Groot Zundert in the province of North Brabant in the south of the Netherlands in the family of a Protestant pastor.
In 1868, Van Gogh dropped out of school, after which he went to work at a branch of the large Parisian art company Goupil & Cie. He worked successfully in the gallery, first in The Hague, then in branches in London and Paris.
By 1876, Vincent had completely lost interest in the painting trade and decided to follow in the footsteps of his father. In Great Britain, he found work as a teacher at a boarding school in a small town in the suburbs of London, where he also served as an assistant pastor. On October 29, 1876, he preached his first sermon. In 1877 he moved to Amsterdam, where he began studying theology at the university.
Van Gogh "Poppies"
In 1879, Van Gogh received a position as a secular preacher in Wham, a mining center in the Borinage, in southern Belgium. He then continued his preaching mission in the nearby village of Kem.
During this same period, Van Gogh developed a desire to paint.
In 1880, in Brussels, he entered the Royal Academy of Arts (Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts de Bruxelles). However, due to his unbalanced character, he soon dropped out of the course and continued his art education on his own, using reproductions.
In 1881, in Holland, under the guidance of his relative, landscape artist Anton Mauwe, Van Gogh created his first paintings: "Still life with cabbage and wooden shoes" and "Still life with a beer glass and fruit."
In the Dutch period, starting with the painting “Harvesting Potatoes” (1883), the main motif of the artist’s paintings became the theme ordinary people and their work, the emphasis was on the expressiveness of scenes and figures, the palette was dominated by dark, gloomy colors and shades, sharp changes in light and shadow. The canvas “The Potato Eaters” (April-May 1885) is considered a masterpiece of this period.
In 1885, Van Gogh continued his studies in Belgium. In Antwerp he entered the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp. In 1886, Vincent moved to Paris to join his younger brother Theo, who by then had taken over as leading manager of the Goupil gallery in Montmartre. Here Van Gogh took lessons from the French realist artist Fernand Cormon for about four months, met the impressionists Camille Pizarro, Claude Monet, Paul Gauguin, from whom he adopted their style of painting.
© Public Domain "Portrait of Doctor Gachet" by Van Gogh
© Public Domain
In Paris, Van Gogh developed an interest in creating images human faces. Without the funds to pay for the work of models, he turned to self-portraiture, creating about 20 paintings in this genre in two years.
The Parisian period (1886-1888) became one of the artist's most productive creative periods.
In February 1888, Van Gogh traveled to the south of France to Arles, where he dreamed of creating a creative community of artists.
In December, Vincent's mental health took a turn for the worse. During one of his uncontrollable outbursts of aggression, he threatened Paul Gauguin, who came to see him in the open air, with an open razor, and then cut off a piece of his earlobe, sending it as a gift to one of his female acquaintances. After this incident, Van Gogh was first placed in a psychiatric hospital in Arles, and then voluntarily went for treatment at the specialized clinic of St. Paul of the Mausoleum near Saint-Rémy-de-Provence. The hospital's chief physician, Théophile Peyron, diagnosed his patient with "acute manic disorder." However, the artist was given a certain freedom: he could paint in the open air under the supervision of staff.
In Saint-Rémy, Vincent alternated between periods of vigorous activity and long breaks caused by deep depression. In just one year of his stay at the clinic, Van Gogh painted about 150 paintings. Some of the most outstanding paintings of this period were: “Starry Night”, “Irises”, “Road with Cypress Trees and a Star”, “Olive Trees, Blue Sky and White Cloud”, “Pieta”.
In September 1889, with the active assistance of his brother Theo, Van Gogh's paintings took part in the Salon of Independents, an exhibition contemporary art, organized by the Society of Independent Artists in Paris.
In January 1890, Van Gogh's paintings were exhibited at the eighth Group of Twenty exhibition in Brussels, where they were enthusiastically received by critics.
In May 1890 in mental state Van Gogh improved, he left the hospital and settled in the town of Auvers-sur-Oise in the suburbs of Paris under the supervision of Dr. Paul Gachet.
Vincent actively took up painting; almost every day he completed a painting. During this period, he painted several outstanding portraits of Dr. Gachet and 13-year-old Adeline Ravou, the daughter of the owner of the hotel where he stayed.
On July 27, 1890, Van Gogh left his house at the usual time and went to paint. Upon his return, after persistent questioning by the couple, Ravu admitted that he had shot himself with a pistol. All attempts by Dr. Gachet to save the wounded were in vain; Vincent fell into a coma and died on the night of July 29 at the age of thirty-seven. He was buried in the Auvers cemetery.
American biographers of the artist Steven Nayfeh and Gregory White Smith in their study “The Life of Van Gogh” (Van Gogh: The Life) of Vincent’s death, according to which he died not from his own bullet, but from an accidental shot committed by two drunken young men.
Over the course of ten years creative activity Van Gogh managed to paint 864 paintings and almost 1200 drawings and engravings. During his lifetime, only one painting by the artist was sold - the landscape "Red Vineyards in Arles". The cost of the painting was 400 francs.
The material was prepared based on information from open sources
Art historians are divided into two camps. Experts from the Amsterdam museum refute the recent statement that the artist was killed by a 16-year-old schoolboy.
Who killed Vincent Van Gogh?
Until two years ago Steven Naifeh And Gregory White-Smith published a comprehensive biography of the artist, it was indisputably believed that during his stay in France he committed suicide. But American authors put forward a sensational theory: Van Gogh was shot by a 16-year-old schoolboy Rene Secretan, although it is unclear whether he did this intentionally. The artist lived for two more days and, according to the authors, “accepted death with satisfaction.” He defended Secretan, claiming it was suicide.
In the July issue Burlington Magazine The Amsterdam Van Gogh Museum joined the controversy. In a detailed biographical article, two of the museum's leading researchers, Louis van Tilborgh And Teyo Medendrop, insist on the version of suicide. What is certain is that he died two days after he received a gunshot wound on July 27, 1890, somewhere in Auvers-sur-Oise. They undertook an investigation based largely on a little-known interview Secretan gave shortly before his death in 1957. Secretan recalled that he had a pistol with which he shot at squirrels. Him and his older brother Gaston knew Van Gogh. Rene Secretan claims that the artist stole his weapon, but does not say anything about the shot. Naifeh and White-Smith considered the interview a dying confession and referred to the late art historian John Rewald, who mentioned rumors circulating in Auvers that the guys accidentally shot the artist. The authors believe that Van Gogh decided to defend Rene and Gaston from accusations.
Conclusions of criminologists
Naifeh and White-Smith paid attention to the nature of the wound and concluded that the shot was fired “from some distance from the body, and not at point-blank range.” This is what the doctors who treated Van Gogh testified: his friend Dr. Paul Gachet and local practitioner Jean Mazery. After reviewing the facts, van Tilborgh and Medendrop were convinced that Van Gogh committed suicide. Their article states that Secretan's interview does not "in the slightest degree" support the theory of murder committed intentionally or negligently. All that emerges from the interview is that Van Gogh somehow obtained the brothers’ weapons. The authors emphasize that although Revald recounted rumors about the Secretans, he did not really believe in them. Van Tilborgh and Medendrop cite new data published last year in a book Alena Roana Vincent Van Gogh: has the suicide weapon been found? Dr. Gachet recalled that the wound was brown with a purple rim. The purple bruise is the result of the impact of the bullet, and the brown mark is a burn from gunpowder: this means that the weapon was close to the chest, under the shirt, and therefore Van Gogh shot himself. In addition, Roan discovered new information about weapons. In the 1950s, a rusty revolver was found buried in a field just outside the Chateau d'Auvers, where Van Gogh is said to have shot himself. Analysis showed that the revolver spent 60 to 80 years in the ground. The weapon was found next to the road, which in 1904 the son of Dr. Gachet depicted in a painting called Over: the place where Vincent committed suicide. The revolver was found just behind the low farmhouses depicted in the center of the painting.
Article in Burlington Magazine also applies last weeks Van Gogh's life. The authors argue with the generally accepted theory that the artist was depressed because he lost the financial support of his brother Theo. Van Tilborgh and Medendrop argue that Van Gogh was more concerned that Theo did not allow him to participate in decision-making. Theo had serious problems with his employer, the Busso and Valadon gallery, and he was planning to start his own business: it was supposed to be a gallery, but Theo did not even consult his brother, which made him feel even more lonely. Van Tilborgh and Medendrop conclude that suicide was not an impulsive act, but a carefully considered decision. Although Theo's behavior played a role, the key factor was the artist's painful thought that his obsession with art had plunged him into an abyss of mental confusion. The authors look for traces of this confusion in Van Gogh's last works and point out that when he shot himself, he had a farewell note to his brother in his pocket. Traditionally, Van Gogh's last work is considered to be the painting Crows over wheat field , but it was completed around July 10, more than two weeks before the artist's death. He himself wrote about this painting: “A huge space under a stormy sky, dotted with wheat. I was trying to express sadness, extreme loneliness.” Van Tilborgh had already suggested that latest works Van Gogh had two unfinished paintings - Tree roots and farms near Auvers. The article puts forward a hypothesis that the first of them is a programmatic farewell work, showing how elms fight for survival.
Van Gogh claimed that he shot himself. His relatives also supported the same version. Nyfe and White-Smith argue that the artist lied, while van Tilborgh and Medendrop believe that he was telling the truth. In all likelihood, we need to more carefully study the testimony of contemporaries about suicide.
Dr. Gachet immediately sent Theo a note saying that Vincent had "injured himself." Adelina Ravu, whose father kept the hotel where the artist lived, later recalled that Van Gogh told a policeman: “I wanted to kill myself.”
Terrible wound
Vincent was very close to his brother. It's hard to believe that he lied to his brother about his horrific injury just to save two teenagers who were teasing him from the police. In the end, suicide was much more difficult for Theo to bear because he felt some of his guilt about it. Sounds heartbreaking last words Vincent Van Gogh: “This is exactly how I wanted to go.” In his letter to his wife, Theo says: “A few minutes passed and it was all over: he found the peace that he could not find on earth.”
1. Vincent Willem van Gogh van Gogh) was born in the south of the Netherlands into the family of a Protestant pastor, Theodore van Gogh, and Anna Cornelia, who was the daughter of a respected bookbinder and bookseller.
2. The parents wanted to name their first child, who was born a year earlier than Vincent and died on the first day, with the same name. In addition to the future artist, the family had five more children.
3. In the family, Vincent was considered a difficult and wayward child, when, outside the family, he showed the opposite traits of his temperament: in the eyes of his neighbors, he was a quiet, friendly and sweet child.
4. Vincent dropped out of school multiple times—he dropped out of school as a child; Later, in an effort to become a pastor like his father, he prepared to take university exams for theology department, but ultimately became disillusioned with his studies and dropped out. Wanting to enroll in an Evangelical school, Vincent considered the fees to be discriminatory and refused to attend. Turning to painting, Van Gogh began attending classes at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, but dropped out after a year.
5. Van Gogh took up painting when he was already a mature man, and in just 10 years he went from an aspiring artist to a master who revolutionized the idea of fine art.
6. Over the course of 10 years, Vincent Van Gogh created more than 2 thousand works, of which about 860 were oil paintings.
7. Vincent developed a love for art and painting through his work as an art dealer at the large art firm Goupil & Cie, which belonged to his uncle Vincent.
8. Vincent was in love with his cousin Kay Vos-Stricker, who was a widow. He met her when she was staying with her son at his parents' house. Kee rejected his feelings, but Vincent continued his courtship, which turned all his relatives against him.
9. Absence art education affected Van Gogh's inability to paint human figures. Ultimately devoid of grace and smooth lines in human images became one of the fundamental features of his style.
10. One of the most famous paintings Van Gogh entitled " Starlight Night"was painted in 1889, while the artist was in a mental hospital in France.
11. According to the generally accepted version, Van Gogh cut off his earlobe during a quarrel with Paul Gauguin, when he came to the city where Vincent lived to discuss issues of creating a painting workshop. Unable to find a compromise in resolving the topic so trembling to Van Gogh, Paul Gauguin decided to leave the city. After a heated argument, Vincent grabbed a razor and attacked his friend, who fled the house. On the same night, Van Gogh cut off his earlobe, and not his entire ear, as some legends believed. According to the most common version, he did this in a fit of repentance.
12. According to estimates from auctions and private sales, Van Gogh's works, along with works by expensive paintings ever sold in the world.
13. A crater on Mercury is named after Vincent van Gogh.
14. The legend that during Van Gogh’s lifetime only one of his paintings, “Red Vineyards at Arles,” was sold is incorrect. In fact, the painting sold for 400 francs was Vincent’s breakthrough into the world of serious prices, but in addition to it, at least 14 more works by the artist were sold. There is simply no accurate evidence of the remaining works, so in reality there could have been more sales.
15. Towards the end of his life, Vincent painted very quickly - he could finish his painting from start to finish in 2 hours. However, he always quoted favorite expression American artist Whistler: “I did it in two hours, but I worked for years to do something worthwhile in those two hours.”
16. Legends that mental disorder Van Gogh helped the artist to look into depths that were inaccessible ordinary people, are also untrue. Seizures that were similar to epilepsy, for which he was treated at psychiatric clinic, began only in the last year and a half of his life. Moreover, it was precisely during the period of exacerbation of the disease that Vincent could not write.
17. Van Gogh's younger brother, Theo (Theodorus), was of great importance to the artist. Throughout his life, his brother provided Vincent with moral and financial support. Theo, being 4 years younger than his brother, fell ill with a nervous disorder after Van Gogh’s death and died just six months later.
18. According to experts, if not for the almost simultaneous early death both brothers, fame could have come to Van Gogh back in the mid-1890s and the artist could have become a rich man.
19. Vincent Van Gogh died in 1890 from a gunshot to the chest. Going out for a walk with drawing materials, the artist shot himself in the heart area from a revolver, bought to scare away birds while working in the open air, but the bullet passed lower. 29 hours later he died from loss of blood.
20. The Vincent Van Gogh Museum, which has the world's largest collection of Van Gogh's works, opened in Amsterdam in 1973. It is the second most popular museum in the Netherlands, after the Rijksmuseum. 85% of visitors to the Vincent Van Gogh Museum come from other countries.
