Vincent Van Gogh was a Dutch post-Impressionist painter born in 1853 in the Netherlands. He had a difficult life, working as an art dealer for 16 years before deciding to become an artist at age 27. He struggled to sell his paintings during his lifetime due to his unconventional use of color. He suffered from mental illness and epilepsy in his later years. Tragically, Van Gogh only began to gain recognition after his death by suicide at age 37 in 1890, though he produced over 800 oil paintings in just 10 years.