Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890) was a post-Impressionist painter whose brief but influential career lasted only 10 years. He produced over 1700 works including 900 drawings and 800 paintings. During his lifetime his work was appreciated by few and he sold only one painting. Today his works are owned by museums and valued at millions. Van Gogh struggled with mental illness throughout his life. He pursued art single-mindedly and was influenced by Impressionism in Paris. His most productive period was in Arles where he painted sunflowers and landscapes. He later suffered a breakdown and committed himself to an asylum in Saint-Rémy where he painted The Starry Night. Van Gogh attempted suicide in

1. vincent
van
gogh
By
Jai lohia

2. Vincent Willem van Gogh was a painter whose work,
notable for its rough beauty, emotional honesty and bold
colour, had a far-reaching influence on 20th-century art.
He had one of the briefest careers, it spanned only 10
years but the volume of his output is astonishing. Almost
1700 of his work survived about 900 drawing and 800
paintings.
His work was then known to only a handful of people and
appreciated by fewer still. During his lifetime he sold only
one painting for the equivalent of 5000 rupees.

3. Today his works are owned by the
finest museums and richest art
collectors around the world and
cost millions of dollars.
While he was alive Van Gogh was
regarded as an exceedingly
difficult, obstinate and even
frightening man. Now that he lies
safely in his grave for 120 years
he is widely considered a hero.
Van Gogh is now ranked as one of
the founding fathers of modern
art.

4. His father His mother
Vincent
Anna Cornelia
Theodorus van Born : March 30 1853 van Gogh
Gogh Holland
Vincent’s father was a pastor of a small church and his mother a
homemaker was a mild soul. They had a narrow minded out look
with an emphasis on proprieties and out ward appearances which
was the opposite of his own.

5. Vincent was brought in a religious and cultured
atmosphere but was highly emotional and lacked self-
confidence.
He tried various careers as a clerk in a bookstore, an
art salesman, and a preacher but was unsuccessful.
Finally at the age of twenty-seven he decided to
become an artist.
Having decided at long last that his mission
in life was to be an artist, Van Gogh
established his first “studio” the cottage of a
Borinage coal miner, in Belgium, where he
was earlier working as a preacher.
From Paris, his brother Theo who was to
support him all his life, sent him material to
study and copy.

6.  From childhood he had made little
sketches of things around him but he
now realised that he was badly in
need of formal instruction. He
thought of asking Jules Breton, a
French painter he met while working
as an art salesman. He walked many
miles for days, sleeping in the open
air, in an abandoned wagon and once
in a haystack with very little money
in his pocket to reach his studio.
Upon reaching Breton’s studio, he was too intimidated to
knock on the door, so he turned back and walked all the
way back to Borinage

7.  Once home, he was overcome
with fatigue and quite
melancholy but he decided
that inspite of everything he
would rise again, take up his
pencil and go on with his
drawing.
After this, Van Gogh pursued art
single-mindedly. Basically self taught,
he worked hard to perfect his
technique and style. He drew
hundreds of studies, still life drawings
and painting until he could produce
stunningly realistically work.

9. It was after five years of such work that Van
Gogh created the masterpiece of his early period,
“The Potato Eaters.” In dark earthen colours he
depicts the grim life of peasants to whom dinner
consists of stabbing at boiled potatoes in a room
as grim as a stable. In the details, like the work
worn hands and coarse features, he attests to
their harsh but all too human reality.

11.  The next big influence on Van Gogh was Paris. He
arrived there in early 1886 on a brisk February
morning , to join his brother Théo ,eager to learn and
be stimulated by new experiences.
 Paris in that year was the place to be, the city was
bubbling with innovations in science, literature and
art. Theo worked there as a manager of an art gallery.
He introduced him to a world of different art forms-
Impressionism, Pointillism and Japanese Art
 Vincent , still shy and reserved , became friendly with
other painters like Toulouse –Lautrec, Pisarro and
Gaugin

12. In Paris, Van Gogh's art changed dramatically
under the influence of impressionism and
postimpressionism.
Brightness and lightness flooded his work and he
painted serene café interiors and breezy
landscapes.
The dark palette of his Holland
period gave way to bright colors,
and he began experimenting with divided,
flickering brushstrokes that make the surface of the
canvas vibrate. More attracted to rural subjects
than to cityscapes and he often painted the
suburbs of Paris.
Van Gogh's use of this new style altered not only
his work, but also all of art history

15. Impressionism
The impressionist style of painting concentrates on the general impression
produced by a scene or object rather than its actual fine details. Unmixed
primary colors and small strokes are used to emphasise actual reflected
light and paintings are usually of landscapes and daily aspects of life

16. Pointillism is an original form of art created by George
Seurat. Pointillism is a bunch of tiny dots formed together to
make a picture which is brighter than the other kinds of
paintings. Pointillism takes a long time. For example, Seurat’s
“A Sunday in the Park” took him two years to complete.

17. As his art changed, so did Vincent’s relations with those
around him. Nervous and exhausted, he had begun to
drink heavily and quarrel with Theo who however did
not give up on him.
His nervous temperament made him a difficult
companion and night-long discussions combined with
painting all day undermined his health
Vincent realised he was on the verge of a complete
breakdown and decided to leave Paris. In Feb 1888, he
left for Arles in the South of France, he had heard much
about it and was attracted by the idea of a warmer sun
and brighter sky.

18. The year he spent in Arles was Van Gogh's most productive period.
Among his favorite subjects were blossoming trees and wheatfields,
appropriate symbols of renewal and fertility.
The Harvest, June 1888

19. Fishing Boats on the Beach at Saintes-
Maries-de-la-Mer, June 1888

20. The Yellow House
In September 1888 Van Gogh
moved to the so-called Yellow
House in Arles -- the corner
house with the green shutters
-- which he had rented as a
studio for several months.
Hoping to establish a colony
of artists, he invited his
friends from Paris to join him
in the house, for which he
conceived a complex
program. However only
Gauguin in October 1888 but
with disastrous results

21. The Yellow House

22. During this time, the first signs
of Van Gogh's mental illness
began to take hold. He suffered
from various types of epilepsy,
psychotic attacks, and delusions.
One such episode entailed Vincent
pursuing Gauguin with a knife and
threatening him intensely.
Later that day, Vincent returned
to their house and mutilated his
ear,
then offered it to a prostitute as a
gift.
When Vincent came back ,
he found Gauguin swiftly leaving
Arles and his dream of an artistic
community shattered.

23. Saint-Remy
 Van Gogh then began to  Here his paintings
alternate between fits of became a torrent of
madness and lucidity and activity. Although he
admitted himself to the could not draw and paint
asylum in Saint-Remy for for long periods of time
treatment As the year of without suffering ,
1888 came to an end, between attacks he
Vincent travelled to painted with great
Saint-Rémy-de-Provence lucidity and a renewed
where he committed lyricism the landscapes
himself to an asylum. He seen from his bedroom
was treated by Dr. Paul window and in the
Gachet who supported garden of the asylum
his paintings and became
a friend.

24. Van Gogh painted this blossom, symbol of new life, to celebrate the birth of his nephew, Theo's son. It was
probably painted out-of-doors, looking up into the branches of a tree. Unpainted areas around the branches
indicate that the tree was painted before the sky

25. The Starry Night
Athough he could not draw and
paint for long periods of time
without suffering from an
attack, he managed to
create The Starry Night which
resides as his most popular
work and one of the most
influence pieces in history. The
swirling lines of the sky are a
possible representation of his
mental state. This same shaken
style is visible in all of his work
during his
time in the asylum

26.  In May of 1890, he seemed much better and went to
live in Auvers-sur-Oise under the watchful eye of Dr.
Gachet. Here he spent his time, painting the hilly
countryside and wheat fields around the village, and
the rustic cottages characteristic of Auvers

27. Van Gogh continued working and created
a number of pieces; nearly one painting
day even though his mental condition
often made it very difficult for him to
paint.
This took a heavy toll on him and he was
increasingly depressed by his condition.
Vincent began to view his life as horribly
wasted and impossible. On July 27, 1890
Van Gogh attempted suicide by shooting
himself in the chest. He survived, but
died two days later from the wound.

28. Theo, who had collected the majority of Vincent's work
from Paris, died only six months later. His widow took the
collection to Holland and dedicated herself to getting the
now deceased Vincent the recognition he deserved. She
published his work and Vincent became famous nearly
instantly. His reputation has been growing since.
Tragically, Van Gogh died not knowing the acclaim his art
would receive. Vincent van Gogh lived more than 120
years ago , and yet his artwork is still altering the way
mankind views beauty, persona, individuality, and style in
art. Van Gogh's unique life has inspired millions to become
active in art.
Vincent van Gogh has altered mankind forever... and he
believed his life was a terrible failure! Today his legacy is
immortal and he will be forever known as one of the
greatest artists of the modern era

29. •The World of Van Gogh – Time Life Books
•Wikipedia
•www. Wikipaintings.org
•The Metropolitan Museum of Art – Vincent Van
Gogh
•www.vangogh gallery.com
•National Gallery of Art – Van Gogh Virtual Tour
•Library.thinkquest.org