Vincent Van Gogh• Vincent van Gogh, for whom color was the chief symbol

of expression, was born in Groot-Zundert, Holland. The son of a pastor, brought up in a religious and cultured atmosphere, Vincent was highly emotional and lacked self-confidence. Between 1860 and 1880, when he finally decided to become an artist, van Gogh had had two unsuitable and unhappy romances and had worked unsuccessfully as a clerk in a bookstore, an art salesman, and a preacher in the Borinage (a dreary mining district in Belgium), where he was dismissed for overzealousness.

Vincent Van Gogh

Vincent Van Gogh• He remained in Belgium to study art,

determined to give happiness by creating beauty. The works of his early Dutch period are somber-toned, sharply lit, genre paintings of which the most famous is "The Potato Eaters" (1885). In that year van Gogh went to Antwerp where he discovered the works of Rubens and purchased many Japanese prints.

The Potato Eaters 1885

Vincent Van Gogh• In 1886 he went to Paris to join his brother

Théo, the manager of Goupil's gallery. In Paris, van Gogh studied with Cormon, inevitably met Pissarro, Monet, and Gauguin, and began to lighten his very dark palette and to paint in the short brushstrokes of the Impressionists.

Vincent Van Gogh• His nervous temperament made him a difficult

companion and night-long discussions combined with painting all day undermined his health. He decided to go south to Arles where he hoped his friends would join him and help found a school of art. Gauguin did join him but with disastrous results. Near the end of 1888, an incident led Gauguin to ultimately leave Arles. Van Gogh pursued him with an open razor, was stopped by Gauguin, but ended up cutting a portion of his own ear lobe off. Van Gogh then began to alternate between fits of madness and lucidity and was sent to the asylum in Saint-Remy for treatment.

Vincent Van Gogh• In May of 1890, he seemed much better and

went to live in Auvers-sur-Oise under the watchful eye of Dr. Gachet. Two months later he was dead, having shot himself "for the good of all." During his brief career he had sold one painting. Van Gogh's finest works were produced in less than three years in a technique that grew more and more impassioned in brushstroke, in symbolic and intense color, in surface tension, and in the movement and vibration of form and line.

The Only Painting Van Gogh Sold

• The Red Vineyard was exhibited for the first time at the annual exhibition of Les XX, 1890 in Brussels, and sold for 400 Francs (equal to about $1,000-1,050 today) to Anna Boch,[1] an impressionist painter, member of Les XX and art collector from Belgium; Anna was the sister of Eugène Boch, another impressionist painter and a friend of Van Gogh, too, who had painted Boch's portrait (Le Peintre aux Étoiles) in Arles, in autumn 1888.

Vincent Van Gogh• Van Gogh's inimitable fusion of form and

content is powerful; dramatic, lyrically rhythmic, imaginative, and emotional, for the artist was completely absorbed in the effort to explain either his struggle against madness or his comprehension of the spiritual essence of man and nature.

Vincent Van GoghShort Facts

• Vincent had an older brother who died at birth. His name was also Vincent van Gogh.

• Van Gogh was close friends with Paul Gauguin, another famous artist.

• Van Gogh suffered from temporal lobe epilepsy as well as other mental and physical conditions.

• Vincent shot himself in a wheatfield in Auvers, France but did not die until 2 days later at the age of 37.

Short Facts• Vincent’s brother Theo died six months after

Vincent and is buried next to him in Auvers, France.

• Vincent’s brother’s wife collected Vincent’s paintings and letters after his death and dedicated herself to getting his work the recognition it deserved.

• In a short period of ten years Van Gogh made approximately 900 paintings.

• Vincent only sold one painting during his lifetime and only became famous after his death.

Short Facts• Vincent van Gogh did not cut off his ear. He only

cut off a small portion of his ear lobe. • Van Gogh created his most famous work The

Starry Night while staying in an asylum in Saint-Remy-de-Provence, France.

• Vincent’s earliest career aspiration was to be a pastor in the Dutch Reformed Church like his father.

• Van Gogh wrote over 800 letters in his lifetime. The majority of them written to his brother and closest friend Theo.

Van Gogh's Mental and Physical

Health

• Hundreds of physicians and psychiatrists have tried to define Van Gogh's medical conditions over the years. The following are some of the more probable mental and physical diagnoses.

Temporal Lobe Epilepsy

• Van Gogh suffered from seizures which doctors, including Dr. Felix Rey and Dr. Peyron, believed to be caused by temporal lobe epilepsy. Van Gogh was born with a brain lesion that many doctors believe was aggravated by his prolonged use of absinthe causing his epileptic condition. Dr. Gachet, another of Van Gogh's physicians, was thought to have treated his epilepsy with digitalis. This prescription drug can cause one to see in yellow or see yellow spots. This may have been one of the reasons why Van Gogh loved this color.

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Bipolar Disorder

• Due to Van Gogh's extreme enthusiasm and dedication to first religion and then art coupled with the feverish pace of his art production many believe that mania was a prominent condition in Van Gogh's life. However, these episodes were always followed by exhaustion and depression and ultimately suicide. Therefore, a diagnosis of bipolar disorder or manic depression makes sense with the accounts of these episodes in Van Gogh's life.

• In order to counter act his attacks of epilepsy, anxiety, and depression, Van Gogh drank absinthe, a toxic alcoholic drink popular with many artists at the time. Thujone is the toxin in absinthe. Unfortunately, the Thujone worked against Van Gogh aggravating his epilepsy and manic depression. High doses of thujone can also cause one to see objects in yellow. Various physicians have differing opinions on whether or not this is what caused Van Gogh's affinity with yellow.

Lead Poisoning• Because Van Gogh used lead based paints

there are some who believe he suffered from lead poisoning from nibbling at paint chips. It was also noted by Dr. Peyron that during his attacks Van Gogh tried to poison himself by swallowing paint or drinking kerosene. One of the symptoms of lead poisoning is swelling of the retinas which can cause one to see light in circles like halos around objects. This can be seen in paintings like The Starry Night.

Hypergraphia

• Hypergraphia is a condition causing one to need to write continuously; this disorder is commonly linked to mania and epilepsy. Some believe that the massive collection of over 800 letters Van Gogh wrote during his lifetime could be attributed to this condition.

Van Gogh painted Starry Night while in an Asylum at Saint-Remy in

1889.

Starry Night Over the Rhone1888

Starry Night “Series”• This piece is not the only Starry Sky painting that Van

Gogh ever created. Gogh was quite proud of a piece he had painted earlier in Arles in 1888 that depicted stars reflecting in the Rhone River. Like Starry Sky this previous piece shares many of the qualities that have made Starry Sky such a popular painting. For instance:

• The stars in the night sky are surrounded with their own orb of light.

• The Reflection of artificial light (new to the time period) from Arles in the river makes the one's eyes move around the painting; thus keeping the viewer visually involved.

• There are structures in the distant lit up in a warm glow of light.

• Starry Night over the Rhone contains one final aspect that is not featured in the Starry Night piece; humans. In the bottom right corner of the painting there is a couple walking along the river. This gives the painting a down to earth feel with a natural quality. Although this painting is not nearly as popular as the seconded Starry Night piece, it still creates a pleasurable and life like environment to look at.

• Cafe Terrace At Night was also painted in Arles in 1888. The similarities between this piece the previous two are vaguely similar. This piece offers a new type of perspective on the star filled sky.

• Cafe Terrace At Night was also painted in Arles in 1888. The similarities between this piece the previous two are vaguely similar. This piece offers a new type of perspective on the star filled sky.

Cafe Terrace At Night 1888

• The Stars are barely consumed in their own light.

• The bright yellow wall draws in ones attention rather then assisting to move one's eyes around the painting.

• There is a sense of balance attributed to the dark cityscape silhouette to the right of the painting (Contrasting the bright yellow wall).

Van Gogh’s Sunflowers

• Although Van Gogh's sunflower paintings are very similar in many aspects, each stands out as its own unique work of art. Van Gogh began painting sunflowers after he left Holland for France in pursuit of creating an artistic community. The firsts were created to decorate his friend Paul Gauguin's bedroom. The majority of Van Gogh's sunflowers in vases were created in Arles, France during 1888-1889..

Vase with Fifteen Sunflowers

Van Gogh’s Sunflowers

• There are many pieces within this series of paintings (each is clearly identifiable as a Van Gogh work) in which there are only minor differences that separate them. The overall layout of the painting along with positioning of the actual sunflowers usually remains the same in the similar paintings.

Painting Comparisons

• 1. There are differences in petal structure on a few of the flowers. Located in bubble number one you can see how the second piece has more petal "bulk" and does not follow the sweeping "V" motion as is seen in the first piece.

• 2. The center "eye" of the flower contains different colors. In the first example the center is filled with a greenish yellow, while in the second piece the center is filled with black.

• 3. This is also the case for bubble number three. The leafy structure is yellow in the first piece and resides as light brown in the second piece.

• 4. The leaf located in bubble number four is nearly identical in both pieces; however in the first piece it is overlapped by the large drooping flower and is green in color. In the second piece there is a small but clear gap between the drooping flower and the leaf, and the leaf is black in color.

Two Cut Sunflowers 1887

Four Cut Sunflowers 1887

Irises 1889

• Inspired by the nature surrounding him, Van Gogh began his work on Irises within the first week of his stay at the asylum. Irises was most likely influenced by Japanese woodblock prints which were produced beginning in the 17th century. Like many artists of his time Van Gogh was influenced by the Japanese works. The use of black contours in Irises is a typical element of Japanese woodblock prints. It helped to reinforce the expressive power of the painting.

• There are no known drawings of the piece, probably because Van Gogh did not consider it a masterpiece but simply a study. Upon receiving the canvas Van Gogh’s brother, Theo, submitted it, along with The Starry Night, to the Salon des Independants in September of 1889.

• Irises is on the list of the most expensive paintings ever sold, selling for 54 million dollars in 1987. Currently Irises is on display at The Getty Center in Los Angeles, California.