Vincent van Gogh

1853-1890

Vincent's style was greatly updated during his sojourn in Paris, where the influence of his contemporaries had an effect on his brush work, and subject matter; but he would also experiment with pointillism, a stilt in which thousands of primary colored dots are painted closely together to form the illusion of secondary colors.

While he wanted to continue painting portraits, van Gogh could not afford the use of models, so he purchased a mirror and went to work on a series of self-portraits.

When van Gogh and Gauguin both left Paris in 1888, seeking new sources of inspiration, Gauguin moved to Brittany, while van Gogh moved to Arles, in the south of France, seeking a brighter landscape. It was there that he established the Studio of the South, and invited Gauguin to join him, there, it was at that time that the two exchanged self-portraits; each would paint a self portrait to have it "evaluated" by the other, in a friendly competition of sorts.

While waiting for Gauguin, Vincent paints a series of still life sunflowers to decorate his friend's future room, which would later become the images for which he would be best remembered.

Things were going well for Vincent until he became ill with a debilitating type of epilepsy that would manifest itself in a series of psychotic attacks, and left him in a deluded state. He would shortly thereafter institutionalize himself after having cut off part of his left ear.

While in the St-Remy institution, van Gogh painted numerous works such as Starry Night, and when he was well enough, he would get to work outside the walls of the asylum, sitting in the field. But he would never recover, and at some point he even tried to commit suicide by swallowing paint.

Later, feeling like a failure, van Gogh shot himself in the chest. He died on July 29th, 1890, two days after from the self-inflicted wound. He was 37. His brother Theo died 6 months later.

"As a suffering creature, I cannot do without something greater than I -- something that is my life -- the power to create."
Vincent Van Gogh

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