Crazy Talented: Vincent Van Gogh Biography

"We spend our whole lives in unconscious exercise of the art of expressing our thoughts with the help of words." - A quote by Vincent Van Gogh

Vincent Van Gogh's Biography

The quote above is one of hundred's attributed to Van Gogh. He was arguably the most vociferous, and therefore, quotable artist of all time. By all accounts, he often talked art through the night with whomever would listen. Vincent Van Gogh was an artist almost as articulatory with words, as he was with his brushstrokes. This was just one element that set him apart. As you will learn, nearly every aspect of his life, was a fitting piece in the paradoxical puzzle that was Vincent Van Gogh.

Vincent Van Gogh was born in Groot-Zundert, Holland in 1853. Being the son of a pastor, he was raised in a very strict religious manner. Vincent as a young boy was very high strung and energetic. He was also extremely emotional, and had zero self esteem. He didn't want to move to Hamsterdam, but he knew he had to move on.

Before year 1880, when Vincent finally decided to be an artist, he had two unhappy romances, worked unsuccessfully as an art salesman, a clerk in a bookstore, and for a short time- a preacher in some grim mining district in Belgium. He got fired for being too impassioned and excitable. He was determined to, "Spread his happiness" somehow.

He stayed in Belgium to learn and cultivate his early art. The works produced during this early period are somber in tone, but sharply lit. The most famous is 1885's "The Potato Eaters." This painting was indicative of many to follow In "The Potato Eaters," he addressed fundamental human emotions very directly. The subject matter was what he saw in front of his easel- concrete, familiar, everyday reality.

In 1886 he took off to Paris to join his brother Theo (who he wrote many famous letters to, and have since been published) Theo managed a famous galley in Paris, and through this, Vincent was able to meet Cormon, Pissarro, Monet, and Gauguin. Vincent would study briefly with Cormon. It was under his wing, that Van Gogh would begin to lighten his palette; and make vibrant color his chief form of expression. He altered his brushstroke technique, and began using the short brushstrokes of the Impressionists.

Vincent decided he wanted to go south to Arles, France; and open an art school with some friends. Paul Gauguin joined Vincent, but probably wished he didn't. Near the end of 1888, an incident occurred that made Gauguin leave Arles, and Vincent forever.

In a fit of rage after an argument with Gauguin, Van Gogh cut his ear to symbolize the end of their friendship, believing that Gauguin had grown “deaf” to his needs. The urban legend that he mailed the ear to a prostitute is false. Van Gogh in fact only cut off a part of the lobe. Not his whole left ear as legend has it.

Van Gogh alternated between sheer fits of madness and lucidity. Today he would likely be considered "bi-polar." Many extremely creative type suffer, yet also thrive with this disorder. At the beginning of 1889, he was sent off to the asylum in Saint-Remy for treatment.

In May of 1890, his mental state seemed better. So he went to live in the small village Auvers-sur-Oise under Dr.'s care. In July, Vincent Van Gogh died by his own hand. He shot himself "for the good of all."

At the time, he died an impoverished failure in the eyes of the world. During his brief but prolific career, he sold one painting. He committed suicide at the very time when his work was finally starting to get enthusiastic attention with critics and other artists as well.

Although Vincent Van Gogh never saw his success on this plane, he is probably the most popular and widely known painter in the history of art. He is known to millions because of his commercially popular reproductions like "Sunflowers" and "Road To Cypress Star."

The contrast between the obscurity of his life, and the worldwide acclaim he got after death; puts him as the main character in a prototype story of the modern artist: a mentally ill, broke and rejected outcast, whose genius, only recognized after his early exit, brings him immortality.

**(After proof reading I noticed I spelled "Hamsterdam" instead of Amsterdam. When I was little, I had 10 hamster's over a 14 months period. I built them a little city called Hamsterdam. In my head, that's what I call Amsterdam. I think I misspelled that on purpose sub-consciously. Does that make sense?)

This guy can paint, AND turn a phrase. Vinny V. Gogh was wise beyond his years. He once said, ” An eye for an eye, an ear for a hooker.” Look it up.