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Vincent van Gogh (1853 - 1890) Van Gogh was born on March 30, 1853 in Groot-Zundert, Holland. He was the son of a Protestant minister and had a brother named Theo. Vincent began schooling as any young boy would. Soon after he had graduated, Vincent began to take a role in his family business with his uncle, and began to make frequent visits to the Hague Museum. This was really the beginning of Vincent's introduction to the art of oil painting. Later, when Vincent had shown little appreciation of the museum, he left and moved to London, where he began to love the art and realized how much it was meant to him. In 1880 Vincent realized that he just didn't want to help miners in his town, or continue with his Bible studies from before. He had decided to devote his life to painting . This was the first attempt of his career. In 1881 Vincent was visiting his brother Theo when he was introduced to the painter, Anton Mauve. Mauve later showed him works of watercolor and how it affected the pictures. Theo later had introduced Vincent to many famous impressionists like Picasso, Monet, Gauguin, and other monumental artists. These artists had greatly influenced him into starting his first works of art. In 1885, the sudden death of his father had inspired him to create his most famous painting titled "The Potato Eaters". Around this time Vincent Van Gogh's insanity had been on the rise. He had checked into a few hospitals hoping to get better. He was soon released, and later was thought to have been cured. But he was far from cured. When Vincent began to fall in love with a prostitute and her young daughter, he cut off his right ear and try to give it to her. She soon left. Vincent was outraged by this form of rejection. His mental state began to deteriorate. He still would try to create his masterpieces. He was very lonely, and would show this through his paintings by the colors that he had used. This is why no one really understood him, for they never knew what his insane personality was thinking. Near the end of his life of insanity, he had painted probably the most famous of all of his paintings titled "Starry Night". His dark colors and swirling sky's depicted his soon to come death. On July twenty seventh, 1890 Vincent van Gogh went for a walk and by the end of the night had shot himself dead. He was so overwhelmed with the bad health of his brother, he decided it was time for him to go. Vincent Van Gogh painted and drew more than 1600 pictures and wrote 700 letters to his brother Theo throughout his life. He was a well known but mad and depressed artist who just never found happiness in his life. He will always be remembered for his strange but beautiful paintings that will always be as interesting as he was. |