On March 30, 1853, Vincent van Gogh was born in the south of the Netherlands, in the village of Groot-Zundert, in the province of North Brabant. He had two brothers and three sisters. Vincent was a thoughtful, silent and serious child.
In 1860, he went to the school in the town of Zundert, where there were about 200 students and a single teacher. From 1861 to 1864 Vincent and one of his sisters were taught at home. Then, in the fall of 1864, Vincent went to a boarding school in Zevenbergen, about 20 miles from his home. From September 15, 1866 to March 1868, Vincent went to Willem II College, in Tilberg. The successful artist, Constantijn C. Huysmans, taught Vincent to draw systematically.
In July 1869, Vincent got a job at Goupil & Cie (an art dealer) in The Hague. In June 1873 he was sent to work in London at Messrs. Goupil & Co, 17 Southampton Street. This was a happy period for him and he earned more than his father. He began to isolate himself more and have more zeal for religion. His uncle and his father sent him to Paris to work in a dealership. This job lasted until April 1, 1876 when he lost his job because of his resentful attitude. He thought that art should not be treated as a commodity.
Vincent went to Ramsgate, England, for an unpaid job as a substitute teacher at a boarding school. He made sketches of the Ramsgate harbor views. The work situation didn’t work out for Vincent, so he left. At Christmas, he returned home and got a job in a bookstore in Dordrecht for six months.
Vincent’s growing zeal for religion led him to study theology in Amsterdam in May 1877. Vincent failed the entrance exam and left in July 1878. He then took a three-month course at a Protestant missionary school in Laeken. , near Brussels, but also failed that.
In January 1879, van Gogh secured a temporary missionary position at Petit Wasmes in the Borinage coal-mining district of Belgium. He wanted to live like those to whom he preached, sharing their hardship and misery. Church authorities fired him for “undermining the dignity of the priesthood.” He returned to his parents’ house in Etten and stayed until March 1880. His father made inquiries about Vincent’s being sent to an asylum in Geel.
Vicente went to Cuesmes where he was the guest of a miner until October. He drew pictures of the people and scenes around him. On November 15, 1880, he enrolled in the Acamedie Royale Des Beaux-Arts (art school), in Brussels. He studied anatomy, perspective and modeling.
In April 1881, Vincent returned to Etten with his parents, where he made more drawings. In the summer he spent a lot of time with his cousin, Kee Vos-Stricker, who was recently widowed. He proposed to her but she refused. In November, Kee refused to see him even though she was very persistent. At Christmas, he had a big argument with his father and then he went to The Hague.
In January 1882, Vincent settled in The Hague and visited his cousin-in-law, Anton Mauve, a Dutch realist painter. Mauve introduced him to oil painting and watercolor, and also lent him money to set up an artist’s studio. They had an argument and Mauve did not respond to Vincent’s letters. Van Gogh now lived with an alcoholic prostitute, Clasina Maria Sien Hoornik, and her five-year-old daughter.
Vincent’s uncle, who was an art dealer, commissioned twelve ink drawings of views of the city from him, and another seven drawings later. Vincent soon completed them after arriving in The Hague. In June 1882, he suffered from gonorrhea and was in the hospital for three weeks. In the summer he began to paint with oil paints. In the fall of 1883 he left Sien. In December, because he was lonely, he returned with his parents who had moved to Nuenen, North Brabant.
While Van Gogh was in Nuenen, he made many paintings and sketches of weavers in their huts. His father died of a heart attack on March 26, 1885 and he mourned a lot. He stayed in Nuenen for two years and made almost 200 oil paintings and many watercolors and drawings. During this period he mainly worked with dark earth tones.
Vincent moved to Antwerp in November 1885, renting a small room above a paint dealer’s shop. He studied color theory and visited museums that inspired him to use a more colorful palette. He became a heavy absinthe drinker and ate poorly.
In March 1886, van Gogh went to Paris to study in Fernand Cormon’s studio. He stayed with his brother Theo in his Montmartre apartment. During his stay in Paris he painted scenes along the Seine and Montmartre, still lifes and portraits of friends. He also collected hundreds of Japanese prints and some were included in the background of some of his paintings. Other students in Cormon’s studio included Henri De Toulouse-Lautrec, Emile Bernard, and Louis Anquetin.
Vincent and Theo became friends with Paul Gauguin in November 1887. Vincent stayed in Paris for two years, painting over 200 paintings there. In February 1888, he left Paris because he was exhausted by the city.
Van Gogh traveled to Arles in the south of France, arriving on February 21, 1888. He was inspired by the vibrant light and local landscape of Arles, as can be seen in paintings from this period. They have intense colors, especially mauve, yellow and ultramarine. Paintings from this period include Van Gogh’s Chair (1888), The Night Cafe (1888), Bedroom at Arles (1888), and Still Life: Vase with Twelve Sunflowers (1888).
Vincent repeatedly asked Paul Gauguin to live and work with him in the Yellow House in Arles. On October 23, 1888 Gauguin finally arrived. They started painting together but it wasn’t long before their relationship soured. They were proudly discussing art. On December 23, 1888, Vincent confronted Gauguin with a razor blade, but then panicked and went to a local brothel. While he was there, he cut off his left ear, wrapped it in newspaper, and gave it to a prostitute. He then staggered over to his house. Gauguin later found him unconscious with his head covered in blood.
Van Gogh was in the hospital for the next few days in critical condition. Gauguin never saw Vincent again and left Arles. Vincent returned to the Yellow House, but for the next month he was in and out of the hospital due to hallucinations and delusions.
On May 8, 1889, Vincent entered the asylum at Saint Paul-de-Mausole, about 20 miles from Arles. The hospital is a former monastery and is surrounded by vineyards, olive trees and cornfields. In June 1889 he painted The Starry Night, one of his best known paintings. During the year that he remained in the asylum, he painted many of the most convincing pictures of him.
In May 1890, Vincent moved to Auvers-sur-Oise, in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, to be treated by the physician Dr. Paul Gachet. Gachet was also an amateur artist and had treated a number of other artists. Vincent painted some of Gachet’s pictures in June 1890. He painted some 70 oil paintings during his stay in Auvers-sur-Oise.
Van Gogh’s illness worsened, and at times he was unable or unwilling to paint. This was a source of much frustration for him because he was also an artist at the peak of his ability. On July 27, 1890, he went into a field and pulled out a revolver, then shot himself in the chest. He managed to walk back to his rented accommodation, but after 29 hours he died there (37 years old).