VINCENT VAN GOGH (Dutch Expressionist Painter)
Vincent Van Gogh was born in Holland in 1853, the oldest of eight children. In his youth, he lacked direction. The emotional and mental problems that later plagued him were in evidence even in his childhood, when he was often noticeably distracted or even dazed. He made an attempt to live normally in the world, working as an art dealer, a minister and a teacher, but suffering failure in each case.
Interpersonal relationships were also difficult for this sensitive, troubled man. Falling in love was destructive for him, as the women he loved failed to return his affection. He was fortunate in having his brother Theo for emotional support and frequent financial assistance. Throughout his life, Van Gogh suffered debilitating depression and even breakdowns that sent him several times to mental asylums for treatment. But in between episodes of immobility, he painted, and he met with other artists such as Pissarro and Signac. He even attempted to establish a collaborative relationship with Paul Gaugin, but the relationship failed and the two men went their own ways.
If Van Gogh couldn't connect personally, he also couldn't connect artistically during his lifetime. He sold one painting in his life just a few months before his death: he was often hungry and impoverished. It's a tremendous irony that, a hundred years after his death, his bright, impassioned and highly textural canvases fetch enormous prices from collectors all over the world. Everyone over the age of 12 has probably seen a van Gogh print—"Starry Night" may be the most widely known—and he is acknowledged as one of the greatest artists who ever lived. One wonders, if acclaim had found him while he was alive, would he still have committed suicide at the age of 37? Or would he have survived his demons and created even more beautiful paintings?
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