Vincent Willem van Gogh (30 March 1853 – 29 July 1890) was a Dutch post-impressionist painter. In a decade, he created about 2,100 artworks, including around 860 oil paintings, most of which date from the last two years of his life. His paintings are characterised by bold colours and dramatic, impulsive and expressive brushwork. He was unsuccessful during his lifetime, and he was considered a madman and a failure. He became famous after his suicide and exists in the public imagination as a misunderstood genius.
About Vincent van Gogh in brief
Vincent Willem van Gogh (30 March 1853 – 29 July 1890) was a Dutch post-impressionist painter. In a decade, he created about 2,100 artworks, including around 860 oil paintings, most of which date from the last two years of his life. His paintings are characterised by bold colours and dramatic, impulsive and expressive brushwork that contributed to the foundations of modern art. He was unsuccessful during his lifetime, and he was considered a madman and a failure. He became famous after his suicide and exists in the public imagination as a misunderstood genius. His legacy is honoured by a museum in his name, the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, which holds the world’s largest collection of his paintings and drawings. There are more than 600 letters from Vincent to Theo and around 40 to his sister, 58 to the painter Anthon van Rappard, as well as individual letters to Paul Signac, Émile Bernard and the critic Albert Aurier. Many are undated, but have been able to be illustrated with sketches with no place for them in the art world. A few appeared in 1906 and 1913; the majority were published in 1914. Vincent’s letters are described as having a ‘diary-like intimacy’ and read in parts like autobiography. The letters have been described by Arnold Pomerans as having “fresh dimension, an understanding of the artist’s artistic achievement, and a place in the history of art” The most comprehensive primary source is the correspondence between him and his younger brother, Theo, from 1872 until 1890.
Their lifelong friendship, and most of what is known of Vincent’s thoughts and theories of art, are recorded in the hundreds of letters they exchanged from 1871 to 1890. The two kept a long correspondence by letter until Theo’s death in 1914, and some of their letters were later published in a book of the same name. The last letter, written by Theo to Vincent, was written in 1881, after Vincent had moved back home with his parents. It was written to Vincent’s sister Willem, who had moved to Belgium to be with her husband, the painter Wilfried van Rijn. The letter is titled: “Vincent and Wilfried Van Rijn in Belgium, 1881-1883. What do you want to say to Wilfried? What would you like me to say?” It is published in the book: “The Last Letter from Vincent and Willem to Theo, 1883-1884. I would like to say that I am very grateful to you for all of your support and advice over the past few years. I hope that you will continue to help me in any way you can.” The last few letters are written by Vincent and Theo, and have been published in 1913 and 1914, after Theo’s widow Johanna arranged for the publication of some of the letters. The first letter is written in which Vincent says: “I am so happy to have you as my brother. I love you both very much.”
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This page is based on the article Vincent van Gogh published in Wikipedia (as of Dec. 25, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
