Vincent Willem van Gogh was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter regarded as one of the most influential figures in Western art.
Born in 1853 in Groot-Zundert, Netherlands, Van Gogh, the eldest of six children, was raised in prosperity by strict parents. Throughout his life, Vincent was closest to and most supported by his brother, Theo. While he showed interest in art at an early age, he did not pursue it seriously as a boy. Van Gogh had a largely unhappy childhood, spending much of his teen years being shipped off to distant schools, which left him feeling isolated and lonely.
As a young man, Van Gogh’s uncle got him a job with an art dealer in The Hague. After several years of training, he was transferred to the London branch in 1873. The year he spent in London was one of the happiest of his life. He was good at his work, made more money than his minister father, and fell in love for the first time with his landlady’s daughter, though his affections were unrequited. After leaving London to work in a Parisian branch of the dealership in 1875, Van Gogh came to view art dealers disapprovingly, regarding the trade as commodifying art. After quarreling with his employers about it, he was eventually fired.
Over the next few years, Van Gogh moved through a string of countries and jobs, never settling for long. He worked as a supply teacher, a minister’s assistant, an instructor in a Methodist boys’ school, and a clerk at a bookshop. During this time, Van Gogh was intent on becoming a pastor, and studied under his minister uncle only to fail the entrance exams to the University of Amsterdam’s theology program.
By 1880, Van Gogh was living in Cuesmes, Belgium, and spending more time on art, often drawing those around him. He resided with his brother Theo (now an art dealer himself), who encouraged Vincent to pursue his art more seriously and even offered to financially support him to do so. Van Gogh eventually accepted this offer, living at Theo’s tiny Parisian apartment in 1886.
Van Gogh’s time in Paris led to both important contacts in the art world as well as changes to his artistic style. This was his first exposure to Impressionism, causing him to add brighter, more contemporary colors to his palette. It was also during this time that he struck up two important connections: Henri Toulouse-Lautrec, a painter who also did studies of their Montmartre neighborhood, and Paul Gauguin, one of the artists Theo represented. Many of these artists would pose for each other to save money on models, though Van Gogh often did self-portraits as well, some of which have since become legendary. However, he found Paris tiring and sought a different form of inspiration. Fascinated by Japanese woodblocks, Van Gogh yearned to travel to the Far East, but Toulouse-Lautrec pointed out that the light in Arles, France was nearly identical to the light in the woodblocks. So, in 1888, Van Gogh moved to the provincial village in the south of France.
It was in Arles that Van Gogh was perhaps at his most prolific, producing more than 200 paintings during this period, many now considered to be masterpieces. Van Gogh also dreamed of making Arles into an artistic haven and starting a collective with Gauguin at the head, and pleaded with him over many letters to come visit. Theo grew concerned about his brother’s mental health and bribed Gauguin to go to visit his brother for a time. While the two artists had some productive moments during his two-month visit, including painting as well as frequenting local brothels together, tensions mounted and came to a head during an explosive argument. The specifics remain hazy, but apparently as Gauguin left, he saw Van Gogh with a razor in his hand. Van Gogh removed at least part of his right ear and gave it to a prostitute that same night — though he later remembered little of this episode. Gauguin continued to correspond with him for the duration of Van Gogh’s life, but they never met again.
This breakdown led to Van Gogh checking himself into a mental asylum, Saint-Paul-de-Mausole, in May 1889, where he continued to paint at a feverish pace. He took inspiration from the gardens and flowers on the institution’s grounds, as well as the views from his window, which included one of the most famous paintings of all time, Starry Night.
In 1890, after Van Gogh was released to the care of a doctor in Auvers, it is believed that he attempted suicide by shooting himself in the chest in a field near his quarters. Within two days, he died from an infection in his brother’s arms at the age of 37, having sold only one painting during his lifetime. Theo, weakened by tuberculosis and heartbroken at his brother’s death, died himself within a year.
Many art historians as well as medical historians have come to believe that Vincent van Gogh was bisexual. It is well documented that he frequented brothels and professed his love to at least three different women over the course of his life. As to same-sex attraction, it is unclear whether his relationship with Gauguin had a sexual dimension to it, though some historians believe it to be likely. Van Gogh displayed a similar intensity and desire to connect with Gauguin as he did with the female lovers in his life. For his part, Gauguin was known to flirt with both men and women and wrote that there were moments during their time living together when he would wake up to find Vincent staring at him. This may have lent an extra layer to the intensity of their final confrontation. In fact, it was Van Gogh’s rumored bisexuality that contributed to the coldness with which villagers in Arles treated him.
While he did not enjoy success or recognition during his life, Van Gogh’s sister-in-law, Johanna van Gogh-Bonger, tirelessly campaigned to have his art exhibited and his letters to Theo published to help buyers better understand his work. Her efforts were not in vain, as she landed a big showing of his work in 1901, which snowballed into the greater legacy and renown that his works enjoy today.