Vincent Van Gogh Life and Paintings

Angelyne G. Sudsudan
BS CM II
Humanities1 9-10 MWF

Vincent van Gogh
"As for me, I am rather often uneasy in my mind, because I think that my life has not been calm enough; all those bitter disappointments, adversities, changes keep me from developing fully and naturally in my artistic career."
Vincent Willem van Gogh (30 March 1853 – 29 July 1890) was a Dutch post-Impressionist painter whose work, notable for its rough beauty, emotional honesty and bold color, had a far-reaching influence on 20th-century art. Vincent van Gogh was born on March 30, 1853, in Groot-Zundert, Netherlands. Van Gogh was a post-impressionist painter whose work, notable for its beauty, emotion and color, highly influenced 20th-century art. Vincent van Gogh was born Vincent Willem van Gogh on March 30, 1853, in Groot-Zundert, Netherlands. His father, Theodorus van Gogh, was an austere country minister, and his mother, Anna Cornelia Carbentus, was a moody artist whose love of nature, drawing and watercolors was transferred to her son. Van Gogh was born exactly one year after his parents' first son, also named Vincent, was stillborn. At a young age—his name and birthdate already etched on his dead brother's headstone—van Gogh was melancholy. In June of 1873, van Gogh was transferred to the Groupil Gallery in London. There, he fell in love with English culture. He visited art galleries in his spare time, and also became a fan of the writings of Charles Dickens and George Eliot. He also fell in love with his landlady’s daughter, Eugenie Loyer. When she rejected his marriage proposal, van Gogh suffered a breakdown. He threw away all his books except for the Bible, and devoted his life to God. He became angry with people at work, telling customers not to buy the "worthless art," and was eventually fired.

On January 31, 1890, Theo and his wife, Johanna, gave birth to a boy and named him after van Gogh. Around this time, Theo sold van Gogh's "The Red Vineyards" painting for 400 francs. On July 27, 1890, van Gogh went out to paint in the morning as usual, but he carried a loaded pistol. He struggled with mental illness, and remained poor and virtually unknown throughout his life. He shot himself in the chest, but the bullet did not kill him. He was found bleeding in his room. Van Gogh was taken to a nearby hospital and his doctors sent for Theo, who arrived to find his brother sitting up in bed and smoking a pipe. They spent the next couple of days talking together, and then van Gogh asked Theo to take him home. On July 29, 1890, Vincent van Gogh died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound in the arms of his brother. He was 37 years old.
Despite a widespread tendency to romanticize his ill health, modern critics see an artist deeply frustrated by the inactivity and incoherence brought about by his bouts of illness. Behind this illness of Van Gogh, is a world renowned masterpiece. And this is “The Starry Night”. This masterpiece of him, symbolizes hope, that even with a dark night, it is still possible to see light through the windows of the houses. Furthermore, with shining stars filling the sky, there is always light to guide you in your path. Somehow, this painting narrated the life of Van Gogh. It seems that thru this painting, he is finally cured of his illness and had essentially found his heaven. He also knew that in death, he would be at peace and further portrays this by using bold colors. In this painting also, it is evident with Van Gogh’s passion for night time, where the powerful sky sits above the quiet town. It seems that he is contrasting life and death with luminous stars and a gloomy, peaceful village. Van Gogh’s choice of color in this painting has also been debated by many, particularly the dominance of yellow. Some believe that Gogh may have been suffering from lead poisoning or a type of brain disease. The use of white and yellow creates spiral effect and draws attention to the sky. Vertical lines such as the cypress tree and church tower softly break up the composition without retracting from the powerful night sky depicted. The choice of dark blues and greens were complemented with touches of mint green showing the reflection of the moon. The buildings in the center of the painting are small blocks of yellows, oranges, ang greens with a dash of red to the left of the church. The dominance of blue in this painting is balanced by the orange of the night sky elements. After painting this masterpiece, he continued to paint other fantastic works of art despite his mental illness. But after years of painful anxiety and frequent bouts of mental illness, he died aged 37 from a gunshot wound, generally accepted to be self-inflicted or suicidal although no gun was ever found.