Vincent Van Gogh born in 1853 in the Netherlands. He was a Dutch post-impressionist painter, who though remaining undiscovered and unappreciated in his short lifetime, is now considered to be one of the most influential artists in the history of western art. He took his own life at an age of 37, failing to cope up with mental health problems and poverty a much bigger problem.
Here are some unknown facts which might make you feel a bit more knowledgeable than a couple of minutes before.
He likely suffered from multiple mental illnesses. He is seen to be a symbol of sadness and as an artist who was tortured. But the problems that he faced were much deeper than common depression. Many modern psychiatrists studied his life and more importantly the conditions he lived in and determined that Van Gogh might have like suffered from a larger ray of conditions including the likes of schizophrenia and manic-depression.
Van Gogh hadn’t touched the brush until the age of 27. He only started painting when he was thrown out of his house after he ventured into multiple career options and successively failing at them. He was too poor to afford paint and relied on a gift given to him by his brother Theo.
The love of his life was a Dutch prostitute named Sien. She already had a baby when she had also fallen in love with Vincent. He not only took care of her but also took care of the baby meticulously. This love affair didn’t last long because of the rift that was created between Sien and Vincent’s family. After persuasion by his brother Theo, Vincent left Sien and moved ahead in his life. Many historians believe that this was Vincent’s most regretful decision.
He only sold one painting during his lifetime. He only became famous after his death. His Sister-in-Law Joanne and her daughter who was also named Vincent had a major part to play in the journey of him becoming famous. After Theo Vincent’s brother and Joanne’s husband died after Vincent, Joanne made it a mission for herself to spread his artwork across the planet. Her son, Vincent made up a museum in the Netherlands which has Van Gogh’s paintings to date,
He had quite a few mental breakdowns in his life and once he was also sent to an asylum to get cured. It was here that he made many of his iconic works including The Starry Nights. It is believed that Vincent himself did not satisfy with the painting and termed it as a failed art piece.
He can also be called as the first Selfie King. Yes, Selfie. He made a record of forty three self portraits. There could be many reasons to why he had done this but the best one that I found on the internet was that the main subject that he could think of in his living conditions was himself which paved the way for a record breaking 43 self portraits.
It is also alleged that he was murdered and didn’t commit suicide. The story goes something like this, He was in a market and shot himself in the market with a gun and returned to the Inn that he was staying in to die. But it is alleged that a boy who marked Van Gogh shot him and Vincent saw this as a virtue to flee from the condition he was suffering and went back to the Inn to die. This theory was contemplated on the basis that there was no gun found by the local police.
Today he is considered to be one of the greatest’s. He was indeed a prolific painter who had a career span of just ten years but produced a massive 2100 paintings. If the math is done right that sums up to four paintings a week and those paintings my boy don’t look easy of course.
I really enjoy the post. Really thank you! Really Cool. Mirilla Herculie Mayberry