Art: Vincent van Gogh

One of the most famous painters of our world is Vincent Willem van Gogh, a post-impressionist painter. He was born on March 30, 1853, in Zundert, Netherlands. van Gogh died in France on July 29, 1890, when he was 37 due to a gunshot wound. He always struggled with mental illnesses and was poor throughout his life. His works were not recognized during his lifetime, so he died believing he would never get any recognition in this world.

Since he started painting he completed over 2,100 art pieces. He had 860 oil paintings and more than 1,300 watercolor paintings, drawings, and sketches.

Starry Night by Vincent van Gogh

Some of van Gogh's most recognized art pieces are:

Starry Night
Sunflowers
Wheatfield with Crows
Self-portraits

When van Gogh was 15, his family was struggling with money issues and he was forced to leave school to start working and helping his family with the income. He was an educated man, fluent in French, German, and English. He managed to get a job at an art dealership that belonged to his uncle. By 1873, he was transferred to London. While in London he started to get to know better the English culture and was infatuated with it. He became a fan of the well-known authors Charles Dickens and George Eliot.

van Gogh fell in love with Eugenie Loyer, who was the daughter of his landlady. She rejected his marriage proposal and he had a breakdown. He threw away all his books except for the Bible and dedicated his life to God. He was fired from his job because he started telling people they shouldn't buy the "worthless art".
He continued to then teach a Methodist boys' school and preached to a congregation. He was raised in a religious family, it wasn't until that moment in his life when he started taking religion seriously. He hoped to become a minister and prepared to take the admissions exam to the School of Theology in Amsterdam. He studied for a whole year but then refused to take the Latin exam because he said it was a dead language of poor people, therefore he was denied entrance to the school.
This same situation was repeated in the Church of Belgium in 1878. He volunteered to move to a poor coal mine in southern Belgium. Preachers used to be sent there as punishment. He drew pictures of miners and their families, preached and ministered the sick. He was called "Christ of the Coal Mines". The evangelical committees were not pleased with van Gogh's lifestyle. Because of this, they refused to renew his contract and he had to find something else to do.

"I put my heart and my soul into my work, and have lost my mind in the process."

In December 1888, van Gogh was just living on coffee, bread, and absinthe in France. He was feeling sick. After this, everyone could tell he wasn't just feeling physically bad but his mental health wasn't the best either. During this time it is suspected that he ate paint and sipped on turpentine.
Since his brother, Theo, was worried about him, he offered Paul Gauguin money so he would take care of van Gogh in Arles, France. After a month they spent all most of their time arguing and one night, Gauguin got tired of it and walked out. When Gauguin turned around, he saw a van Gogh holding a razor in his hand. Later, van Gogh ended up in a brothel and paid for a prostitute, he had blood pouring from his hand and he offered her his ear. He asked the prostitute to keep it carefully.

One day, July 27, 1890, he went out to paint with a loaded pistol and shot himself in the chest. He was later found in his room bleeding because the bullet did not kill him. His brother, Theo, had helped him sell his art and in May that year gave Vincent a stern talk about his financial state. Vincent had interpreted this talk as Theo not wanting to sell his art anymore which would mean that Vincent would not be getting that income. He was really worried about his future and what was going to happen with his life after that.

After being found, Vincent van Gogh was taken to the hospital and his brother was called. When Theo arrived, Vincent was sitting up and smoking a pipe. After a few days, van Gogh asked his brother to take him home. Two days later, on July 29, 1890, he died at age 37 in the arms of his brother.