Vincent Van Gogh
One of the most original artists
ever, Vincent van Gogh worked as an evangelist before taking up painting at the
age of 27. He was largely self-taught, but absorbed the inspiring lessons of
Impressionism during two years in Paris. Then he moved alone to Arles in the
south of France, where he painted the landscapes, still-lives and portraits
which became his most famous works. Vincent Willem van Gogh was born on 30 March 1853 in the small Dutch village of Groot Zundert, near the Belgian frontier. He was the first surviving son of the local pastor, Theodorus van Gogh, and his wife Cornelia, a gentle, artistic woman. By an extraordinary coincidence, the boy was born exactly one year to the day after Cornelia had delivered a stillborn baby, also called Vincent Willem. The grieving parents had placed a gravestone in the village churchyard for their lost infant, so little Vincent grew up with a constant reminder of his dead namesake. He was a difficult child, who spent his time walking alone in the fields, rarely playing even with his younger brother Theo or his three little sisters there is no record of his school career but encouraged by his mother he drew and painted regularly from his early teens.
Art dealer with a business in the hague which he had merged with the Paris
based internationally frim of goupil & Co. when Vincent left school at the age of 16, uncle
cent found him a job in the hauge of fice and he worked there stedily for four
years with a short stint in the Brussels branch but this transferred to London
where he fell disastrously in love with his landlady daughter this after
affected his ability to work and he was dismissed .in 1876 van goah returned to
England as an un paid assistant at a private school in ramsgate
when Vincent left school at the age of 16, uncle
cent found him a job in the hauge of fice and he worked there stedily for four
years with a short stint in the Brussels branch but this transferred to London
where he fell disastrously in love with his landlady daughter this after
affected his ability to work and he was dismissed .in 1876 van goah returned to
England as an un paid assistant at a private school in ramsgate.
After a few months the school moved
to London, and he was given the job of collecting overdue school fees in some
of the city's poorest areas. It was his first real view of urban squalor and
what he saw so distressed him that he could not bring him-self to collect a
penny. He was dismissed again. But the experience of poverty awakened a religious
zeal in Van Gogh, who now followed his father's example by becoming an
assistant preacher to a Methodist minister. He enjoyed this work enormously,
and after a few months he re-turned to Holland to train formally for the
minis-try.
Vincent's parents doubted that he had the self-discipline to cope with
the rigorous studies required. They were right: he gave up after a year. But
his passion was unchecked and at the age of 25 he moved to the Borinage, a grim
coal-mining district in southern Belgium, as an evangelist.
A GIFT TO THE POOR
The poverty Vincent found there was
even worse than in London. He threw himself into his work with a selfless fervour,
interpreting Christ's message to 'give to the poor' so literally that he even
gave his warm clothes away, and ate almost no-thing. His superiors were
appalled by his 'excessive' zeal. They were also dismayed by his appearance,
which they felt brought disrespect on his calling.
Once again, Vincent was
dismissed. Van Gogh remained in the Borinage for two hard years, surviving
no-one knew how. And there he went through a profound personal crisis to emerge
with a new resolve: to be an artist. He went home to his parents and applied
him-self to the task with the same vigor he had
Vincent's Lost Loves
Throughout his life, Van Gogh was
plagued by loneliness. He never married, and his few attempts to find happiness
with women all ended disastrously. Vincent's first love affair was with his
landlady's daughter in England: it disturbed him so much that he lost his job.
The second was with Kee Vos, his widowed cousin who was staying with his
parents in Holland. Scared by ardent protestations of love for her, she fled to
Amsterdam.
He still craved a loving
relationship, and when he met a pregnant prostitute called Sien in The Hague,
he saw it as his mission to give her love and protection. Vincent lived with
Sien and her children, revelled in his 'family life', and planned to marry her.
But the unlikely couple parted after a year.
Brought to evangelism. For months he
was hap pier than ever before, and his work improved rapidly. But ominous signs
of instability revealed themselves in his stormy behavior. Another abortive
love affair shook him badly; then a religious quarrel with his father reached
such a pitch that Vincent walked out of the house on Christmas Day 1881, and
moved to The Hague.
With no money to live on, he was
forced to ask Theo for help. His loyal brother sent him a tiny allowance each month
from his own small salary in the spirit of self-sacrifice that would endure
throughout Vincent's life. Meanwhile the landscape artist Anton Mauve (a
relation of Van Gogh's mother) encouraged his painting until a typical outburst
brought their friendship to an end. Defiantly, Vincent shared his room with a
prostitute and her small child, and even talked of marriage until Theo
persuaded him to drop the plan.
PORTRAITS OF PEASANTS
Vincent returned home in 1884. His
parents had moved to a new church in Nuenen; they welcomed him like a prodigal
son. He began to work on portraits of peasants and after yet another emotional
disaster he executed his most ambitious picture so far: The Potato Eaters a
gloomy painting of peasants at their evening meal. Pastor Theodorus died in
1885, and the same year Van Gogh left Holland, never to return. He went first
to Belgium and enrolled at the academy in Antwerp, but failed his first term of
study. By the time the results were declared, he had already left for Paris.
One day Theo still working for Goupil’s received a brief note urging him to
'come to the Salle Carree (in the Louvre) as soon as possible,' where his
brother was waiting.
Vincent moved into Theo's flat in
Montmartre and studied for a few months at the studio of an academic painter
named Fernand Carmon, along with Emile Bernard and Toulouse-Lautrec. All three
soon broke with Carmon, who was hostile to the new Impressionist movement, led
by Monet, Renoir and Degas. But Vincent was inspired by the colour of their
paintings, and their habit of working in the open air. Through Theo, he met
Camille Pissarro, one of the elder Impressionists, and a still more
revolutionary figure Paul Gauguin.
DEPARTURE FOR THE SOUTH
But while Vincent's art progressed
rapidly, he stuck out like a sore thumb among the urbane Parisian artists. He
drank very heavily; he had a quick, unpredictable temper; he shouted when
excited about something; and was incapable of either hiding his opinions or
softening them to avoid arguments. He even managed to alienate Theo, but only for
a time. After two years in Paris he declared 'I will take myself off somewhere
down south.' In Paris, Vincent had come to like Japanese art and this
influenced his choice of where to live.
As Embark on a project he had long
desired: the establishment of an artists' colony. He wanted Paul Gauguin to be
the first to join, and enlisted Theo to help persuade him. Gauguin - then
working in Brittany - was reluctant at first, but when Theo offered to pay his
fare, he finally agreed.
GAUGUIN IN ARLES
Gauguin arrived at Arles in October
1888 and moved into the Yellow House, but he disliked the town and found
Vincent's untidiness irritating. For a short time peace reigned, but within two
months the artists were quarrelling fiercely. Cynical and arrogant, Gauguin
made a bad match for the passionate, obstinate Dutchman. Van Gogh was soon
making excuses to Theo for their lack of concord, predicting sadly that Gauguin
would 'definitely go, or else definitely stay' and claiming to await his
decision with 'absolute serenity'. But the very night he wrote these words, in
Christmas week, 1888, something happened to snap Vincent's self-control. He
threw a glass of absinthe at Gauguin, and later threatened him with a razor.
Gauguin took shelter in a nearby hotel, leaving
Him to calm down. But during the
night Van Gogh cut off the lobe of his right ear, then put it in an envelope
and gave it to a prostitute. Gauguin left for Paris by the first available
train; Vincent suffering from hallucinations as well as loss of blood - was
taken to Arles hospital. He was released after two weeks, but overwork and a
terror of madness brought on a relapse. He went back into hospital.
When he
recovered enough to go back to the Yellow House, he was persecuted by the
townspeople, 80 of whom signed a petition saying that the 'madman' should be
put away. By the spring of 1889, when Vincent had been in Arles for a year, all
his hope had gone. The artists’ colony had come to nothing. Gauguin had
vanished. His friend Roulin had been transferred to another town.
Vincent dreaded the return of his
insanity so much that in May he left Arles and committed himself voluntarily to
an asylum in the nearby town of Saint Remy. Slowly he began to come to terms
with his illness - perhaps a form of epilepsy, schizophrenia, or the result of
brain damage at birth. He received no treatment except cold baths twice a week.
Bouts of convulsions and hallucinations recurred in a three-monthly cycle, but
he still produced some 200 canvases during his year in the asylum. In the
spring of 1890 Theo reported hopeful signs that Vincent's work was at last
being recognized. In February, a painting of an Arles vineyard was sold for 400
francs in a Brussels exhibition. It was the only canvas Van Gogh ever sold.
DEATH IN AUVERS
It was time to leave the South.
Vincent's old friend Camille Pissarro suggested he move to Auvers, a village
northwest of Paris which was popular with artists. So Vincent spent a few days
with Theo and his new wife - and their baby son, named Vincent Willem after his
uncle then caught the train to Auvers. There he was placed in the care of Dr
Cachet, an amiable eccentric.
Vincent painted steadily, and seemed
at first to be healthy and in good spirits. He took a small room in a café, and
kept regular hours. But early in July a trip to visit Theo in Paris caused him
great anxiety. Theo was worried about money and the cost of supporting Vincent
was very high.
Writer-Marshall Cavendish
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