Vincent Willem Van Gogh (30 March 1853 - 29 July 1890) was a Dutch artist and also one of histories most famous absinthe drinkers. Born in Groot-Zundert, a village close to Breda in the southern Netherlands, Van Gogh described his youth as “gloomy, cold and sterile”.

At the time of Van Gogh’s death little was known of his work, and his popularity as an artist grew in the years thereafter. Today Van Gogh is amongst the worlds most recognized painters, and his works count for some of the most famous and valuable to date. 

Van Gogh’s working life began in 1869, when with the help of his uncle he obtained a position at Goupil & Cie, an art dealer in the Hague, and after completing his training in 1873 he was transferred to London. This time was described as a happy time for Van Gogh, being in a successful career at only 20 years old. He was sent to a dealership in Paris by order of his father and uncle in 1875, though as time passed he became increasingly resentful of how art was treated as a commodity, and by April 1st 1876 his employment was terminated.

 Below: The Potato Eaters (1885) is generally considered

 to be Van Goghs first major work.

Van Gogh returned to England and took on various unpaid jobs, first as a supply teacher, and then as a ministers assistant before returning home to work in a bookstore in Dordrecht, Whilst there he passed his time translating passages of the bible. In 1877, his family sent him to study theology in Amsterdam in effort to aid his growing religious ambition. During his time in Amsterdam he stayed with his uncle Jan van Gogh, but this was to be short-lived as he moved out after failing his entrance exam. He then took on a three month course at a protestant missionary school in Laeken, near Brussels, but also failed. His next move was to take on a temporary post as a missionary, and in January 1879 he moved to the village of Petit Wasmes in the coal-mining district of Borinage in Belgium. Van Gogh chose to share the hardships of those he was preaching to, and even slept on straw in a small hut behind the local bakers house, where the bakers wife claimed to of heard him sobbing all night. Despite feeling his actions were the only logical thing to do in his situation, the church authorities did not share the same sentiments, and in the end he was dismissed for "undermining the dignity of the priesthood".

For the following months Van Gogh remained in Belgium before giving in to his parent’s requests for him to return home, where he remained until March 1880. Whilst back at home his relationship with his father Theodorus van Gogh was troubled, culminating with Theodorus making inquiries to have Vincent committed to the insane asylum in Geel.

Van Gogh headed to Cuesmes, in the Borinage of Belgium where his interest in art once again became a focus, as he found intrigue within everyday scenes involving the ordinary folk and settings around him. During his time in Cuesmes, Vincent’s brother Theo encouraged him to pursue his artistic ideals, and to travel to Brussels to study under the Dutch artist Willem Roelofs. Van Gogh followed his brother’s advice and made his way to Brussels that autumn. During his time with Roelofs he was encouraged to attend the Royal Academy of Art, although not without reluctance, due to his aversion to the formal school of arts, but during his attendance he learned many of the fundamentals of modelling and perspective, stating "you have to know just to be able to draw the least thing".

Van Gogh moved back to his parents in Etten in April 1881, where he spent some time with Kee Von-Stricker, his recently widowed cousin. Van Gogh grew very fond of the recently widowed Kee, so fond in fact that he proposed marriage, but was hastily rejected. As family tensions grew, his turbulent relationship with his father peaked that Christmas, and once again Van Gogh left. In January 1882 Van Gogh he had taken up residence in the Hague where he formed a relationship with an alcoholic prostitute by the name of Sien Hoornik, and came to live with her and her five year old daughter. Unsurprisingly his family didn't approve of his new arrangement, and put great pressure on Vincent to abandon Sien. During this time was commissioned to complete 20 ink drawings of the city by his art dealer uncle Cornelis, they were completed in May. On the 2nd of July, Sien gave birth to a son named Willem, this boy would be raised by his mother to believe his father was Van Gogh, but the timing of Vincent and Siens meeting and Willems birth indicates that this is most likely to be false.

 Above: Women Mending Nets In The Dunes, completed

 in the Hague in 1882

In the autumn of 1883, Van Gogh abandoned Sien and her children and moved to Drenthe, in the north of the Netherlands, before once again returning to his parents, who were now living in Nuenen. Van Gogh now began dedicating his time to his art, and spent a lot of time drawing and painting his surroundings, often accompanied by Margot Begemann, a local girl who was ten years his senior, they fell in love and planned to marry, but both families opposed this and Margot attempted suicide by an overdose of strychnine, luckily being found by Van Gogh and rushed to hospital. But then on March 26th 1885, Van Gogh’s father died of a heart attack, and Vincent mourned the loss.

Unfortunately Vincent’s father didn't live long enough to see recognition of his sons work, and shortly after his death Vincent’s first major was exhibited, De Aardappeleters, or The Potato Eaters, was exhibited that August in the window of Teurs, a paint dealer in the Hague. Throughout 1885 Van Gogh completed many Still-life paintings, such as Still-life with Straw Hat and Pipe and Still-life with Earthen Pot and Clogs (both below). During his time in Nuenen he completed nearly two hundred oil paintings along with many drawings and watercolours.

In November 1885, Van Gogh moved to Antwerp where he rented a room above an art dealer. At this time Van Gogh’s only source of money was what he was sent by his brother Theo. Vincent spent what little money he had on materials and models for his paintings along with coffee, bread and tobacco. In February 1886, Van Gogh wrote to his brother Theo stating that he could only recall eating six hot meals since May of 1885.

Throughout his stay in Antwerp, Van Gogh studied many pieces which encouraged him to broaden his use of colours, most notably the works of Peter Paul Rubens. He also bought a number of Japanese Ukiyo-e woodcuts, the influence of which can be seen in many of Van Gogh’s paintings from the era. It was while in Antwerp that Van Gogh began to drink large quantities of absinthe. In January 1886, Van Gogh enrolled in painting and drawing at the academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp.

In March 1886 Van Gogh travelled to Paris where he studied at Fernand Cormon’s Studio. Initially he shared Theo’s apartment in Montmartre, but in June they moved into a larger flat, also in Montmartre. Van Gogh painted many scenes of Paris and the surrounding areas, such as Bridges across the Seine at Asnieres. Van Gogh also collected many more Japanese Ukiyo-e woodcuts, some of which can be seen in his paintings, such as his Portrait of Pére Tanguy, where many can be seen in the background. Plum Tree in Blossom is another good example of the fondness Van Gogh had for his collection of Japanese prints.

As Van Gogh worked at Cormons studio, he became acquainted with the artist John Peter Russell; he also met fellow students such as Émile Bernard, Louis Anquetin and Henri de Toulouse Lautrec, who created a pastel portrait of on Van Gogh (left). In 1886 two large vanguard exhibitions were staged, it was in these shows that Neo-Impressionism made its first appearance. It is reported that conflicts arose between Vincent and Theo towards the end of the year, and Theo found the tension “almost unbearable”. Fortunately by the spring of 1887 they had made their peace.

In November 1887, Vincent and Theo befriended Paul Gauguin, who had only recently arrived in Paris. As the year was drawing to a close, Van Gogh organised an exhibition of paintings by himself, Émile Bernard and Louis Anquetin amongst others. It was there that Bernard and Anquetin sold their first pieces, Van Gogh traded works with Paul Gauguin before Gauguin departed to Pont-Aven in Brittany. In February 1888, Van Gogh left the city feeling worn out from the vibrant Parisian lifestyle, but from his two years spent in Paris, Van Gogh had completed over 200 paintings.

Van Gogh arrived in Arles in the South of France on February the 21st, 1888 and took a room in the Hotel-Restaurant Carrel. Van Gogh had moved to Arles seeking refuge, as he was ill from drink and smoking. He had planned to open a utopian art colony. However Van Gogh felt foreign in this new environment, writing in a letter; “The Zouaves, the brothels, the adorable little Arlesiennes going to their First Communion, the priest in his surplice, who looks like a dangerous rhinoceros, the people drinking absinthe, all seem to me creatures from another world”. Despite this, he was very much taken by the local landscapes, his works from this period showing rich yellows, ultramarine and mauve. In March he painted local scenery using a “perspective frame” and three of these paintings were shown at the Société des Artistes Indépendants annual exhibition.

Above from left to right: Bedroom in Arles, The Night Café and The Café on the Place du Forum

On May 7th, Van Gogh moved from the Hotel Carrel to the Café de la Gare, a move sparked by a dispute over price. He befriended the owners, Joseph and Marie Ginoux, the Yellow House was unfurnished, but Van Gogh hoped to utilise it as a studio. Van Gogh began working on a major project of his at this time, with the hope of having a gallery to display his work. These works were to include Van Gogh’s Chair, Bedroom in Arles, The Night Café, The Café Terrace on the Place du Forum, Arles, at Night, Starry Night Over the Rhone, Still Life: Vase with Twelve Sunflowers, all intended to become decoration for the Yellow House.

Above from left to right: Starry Night Over the Rhone, Still Life: Vase with Twelve Sunflowers and Van Gogh's Chair

That June Van Gogh visited the neighbouring Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, where he was introduced to Eugéne Boch, a Belgian painter, and two exchanged visits in July. In August Boch visited again and Van Gogh painted his portrait. Van Gogh then began working on The Décoration for the Yellow House, and also the aforementioned Van Gogh’s Chair.

At the repeated requests of Van Gogh, Paul Gauguin moved to Arles on the 23rd of October, and the two soon began painting together. It was at this time that Gauguin painted Van Gogh’s portrait The Painter of Sunflowers: Portrait of Vincent van Gogh. This period of cooperation was to be short lived, and soon Van Gogh and Gauguin began to argue fiercely.

It is at this time that one of Van Gogh’s most notable incidents occurred. On December 23rd 1888, Van Gogh and Gauguin had a serious argument which resulted in Van Gogh allegedly throwing a glass of absinthe over Gauguin after he had announced his plans to leave Arles. What happened next is highly disputed, but both versions of events result in Van Gogh losing a significant portion of his left ear lobe. One side of the story is that Van Gogh threatened Gauguin with a razor blade, before leaving and then cutting off the piece of his ear himself. The other turn of events is that when Van Gogh attempted to attack him, Gauguin (an accomplished fencer) struck first and cut Van Gogh’s ear with his sword, and Van Gogh would later agree to keep the incident a secret in a vain attempt to retain the friendship. It is reported that Van Gogh then wrapped the segment of his ear in tissue before taking it to a familiar prostitute by the name of Rachel, requesting that she “keep this object carefully”.

Van Gogh was hospitalized shortly after and Gauguin left Arles, never to see Vincent again, although he did notify Theo of his brother’s condition. Theo immediately visited his brother in Arles. In January 1889, he was allowed back home to the Yellow House, but spent the next month back and forth between the house and the hospital suffering from hallucinations and delusions, convinced that he was being poisoned. Van Gogh was moved from his house in March by order of a petition by the townspeople, who called him “fou roux” (the redheaded madman).

On May 8th 1889, Van Gogh committed himself to the hospital at Saint-Paul-de-Mausole, in Saint-Rémy, approximately 20 miles from Arles. During his stay the hospital and its grounds became the main focus of his paintings, he made several from the hospital interiors such as Vestibule of the Asylum (right) and Saint-Remy. He also painted one of his best known pieces while at the hospital, The Starry Night. Van Gogh was taken out on supervised walks where he drew inspiration from the cypresses and olive trees, completing such works as Olive Trees with the Alpilles in the Background, Cypresses, Cornfield with Cypresses and Country road in Provence by Night.

Above from left to right: The Starry Night, Olive Trees with the Alpilles in the Background and Cypresses

Van Gogh’s confinement naturally resulted in a lack of natural inspiration, so he began working on interpretations of the works of other artists, such as Jean-Francois Millets The Sower and Noon – Rest from Work (after Millet). During this time Van Gogh also completed The Round of Prisoners, painted after the Gustave Doré engraving.

Above: The Sower and The Round of Prisoners

In September 1889, Van Gogh produced a further two versions of Bedroom in Arles. He also painted four portraits of L’Arlésienne, from a charcoal sketch Gauguin had produced in November 1888, when Madame Ginoux had sat for both artists. Van Gogh’s work received great praise from Albert Aurier in the Mercure de France in January 1890, and was described as “a genius”. That year Van Gogh’s works were exhibited at the Les XX annual exhibition and the Artistes Indépendants in Paris. During the latter, Van Gogh’s works were described by Monet as the best in the show.

In May 1890, Van Gogh left the clinic and moved to Auvers-sur-Oise near Paris, in order to be near the physician Dr. Paul Gachet. Gachet had treated a selection of artists previously and was also an amateur artist himself. Van Gogh would later comment that Gachet was “…sicker than I am, I think, or shall we say just as much”. That June Van Gogh painted Portrait of Dr. Gachet (left) along with two further portraits of Gachet in oils.

During the final weeks of Van Gogh’s stay in Saint-Rémy, his thoughts had been centred on his “memories of the North”, and several of his oil paintings from his 70 day stay in Auvers-sur-Oise are reminiscent of northern scenes, such as The Church at Auvers.

Wheat Field with Crows is often mistaken as being Van Gogh’s last work, but it is stated that seven paintings postdate it. Renowned painter Charles-Francois Daubigny had moved to Auvers-sure-Oise in 1861, and Van Gogh completed two painting of Daubigny’s Garden in July 1890, and one of these is most likely to be his final work. At Eternity’s Gate is a good example of the mental state that Van Gogh was in prior to his death.

 Above from left to right: The Church at Auvers and At Eternity's Gate

Van Gogh had been troubled by his mental illness throughout his life, but it was during his last years that it became progressively worse. On July the 27th 1890, aged only 37, Van Gogh walked out into a nearby field and shot himself in the chest with a revolver. He survived the initial gunshot wound and walked back to the Ravoux Inn where he would remain, until two days later when he passed away. Theo had rushed to be by his brothers side, and reported that Vincent’s last words were “La tristesse durera toujours” (the sadness will last forever.)

Soon after the death of Vincent, Theo’s health rapidly deteriorated, and he died in Utrecht on January 25th 1891. It is believed that his demise was ultimately caused by the final stages of syphilis, although this would not be admitted by the family for many years. In 1914 Theo’s body was exhumed and re-buried with his brother at Auvers-sure-Oise.

 Left: The graves of Vincent and Theodore van Gogh at Auvers-sur-Oise