Vincent Van Gogh, Life, Biography and Paintings

Vincent Willem Van Gogh ( March 30 1853 – July 29 1870 ) dutch artist, representative of post-impressionism, is considered today one of the most important painters in art history.

His work presents objects, people and places he knew, through a powerful vision, often distorted, with a subtle color and very alive in the same time. He is known as an almost didactic representation of the romantic artist myth, who suffers for he’s art and constantly fighting with his inner daemons.

Three stories we know about Van Gogh, all inspired by reality, who built him a strange and eccentric image, even for this brilliant artists: the story of cutting his ear in rage, that he killed himself because nobody appreciated his work and that he painted using this style because he suffered from a mental illness.

Vincent Van Gogh created almost 900 paintings and 1100 drawings, an impressive portfolio, in only just a decade. Many of his most popular work have been created in the last 2 years of his life. Strange is that, before he killed himself, he proved to be a very prolific painter: in the last two months of his life he painted more than 90 paintings.

He suffered from mental illness, having long periods of time in which he was admitted to mental hospitals. His mental state was very affected by the long hours of work he imposed on him self, bad food and addiction to tobacco, coffee and alcohol.

He died too early and he couldn’t enjoy the success he deserves in his life time. Only after he died he started to become appreciated by the public, mainly because of the promotion made by his sister in law. 11 years after he died, a gallery was opened in Paris, showing 71 of his paintings. This was the first gesture of recognition of Van Gogh’s art.

Considered a pioneer of the expressionist current, Van Gogh had a very big influence on the 20th century art, especially in the first part of the century, when the majority of artists were marked by the work and personality of the dutch painter.

His brother, Teo Van Gogh, who worked for art dealers Goupil & Cie, played a very important role in Vincent’s life, supporting him morally and also financially. They were great friends, and their friendship was also documented by the letter they send to each other starting with August 1872.

Vincent Van Gogh Paintings

Below you can see some pictures of some of the most popular Vincent Van Gogh paintings.