VINCENT VAN GOGH-by Ana Mazarías

VINCENT VAN GOGH

Vincent Van Gogh was born in Groot-Zunder, Netherlands, in a very religious middle class family. It was 1853, he had fiver brothers but his favourite was Theo, his youngest. They always had great times together.

Apparently Vincent was a special, shy and lonely child. People were struck by his red hair and they noticed his talent for painting from a young age.

When he was 16, he went to work in an art gallery in Paris. After a while, he went to a gallery owned by the same people in London.

The years in contact with the art world would come in handy for his artistic training.

He was also a teacher, he sold books…

He did many things, until one day he decided to change his life. He went to a mining region in Belgium as a missionary. There he worked to help the miners and their families living in poverty.

The harsh living conditions of peasants, and coal workers, marked him forever and left a great impression of his artistic work.

Vincent was also in serious financial trouble, so his beloved brother, Theo, began sending him money to survive. Two years later, at the age of 27, he finally decided to devote himself to studying painting  and techniques full-time.

This is the time he painted “The Potato Eaters”. It showed his respect and compassion for the people at this time.

When Vincent was 33 years old, he went to Paris and discovered a whole new world.

Vincent was obsessed with an idea: to meet with important painters and live together in a house so they can share their knowledge in art. No one was interested in that, only Paul Gauguin so they live together a couple of month but both had a very strong character and they were arguing all the time. They once had such a big discussion after which Van Gough cut his ear with a knife.