Portrait of Vincent van Gogh

Vincent van Gogh Painting Reproductions 2 of 18

1853-1890

Dutch Post-Impressionist Painter

Vincent Van Gogh, Dutch painter (Groot Zundert, Brabant, 1853-Auvers-sur-Oise 1890).

Vincent Van Gogh embodied the myth of the misunderstood genius of his time, so much so that his works were ignored in his own time and are today among the most sought-after in the world. He tried to exorcise his inner turmoil through painting. His research into form and color had a lasting influence on the avant-gardes to come.

A pastor's son, Vincent Van Gogh was named after a brother who was stillborn the year before he was born. Four years after his birth, he had another brother, Theodorus (1857-1891), whom he called Theo - and who supported him morally and financially throughout his life.

An unstable child with a talent for drawing, Vincent's uncles included the founder of the Goupil art gallery in Paris, which had numerous branches throughout Europe. He was sent successively to the Hague branch (1869), then to the Brussels and London branches (1873-1876), to learn the art business. Following setbacks in love, he took refuge in mysticism, writing letters to Theo as an outlet for his troubled soul.

After a brief stay in Paris, Van Gogh returned to London and became a schoolteacher in the working-class district of Isleworth. He sensed a true religious vocation, which led him to evangelize the miners of the Borinage region in Belgium. His zeal for evangelism offended the ecclesiastical authorities, who put a stop to it after a year (1879). After several years of solitary wandering, painting took precedence over preaching.

A devotee of Jean-François Millet, Van Gogh devoted himself to the study of landscapes and peasant scenes when he took up oil painting in 1882, on the advice of his cousin by marriage, Anton Mauve (1838-1888).

In Nuenen, near Eindhoven, where he lived for almost two years (December 1883-November 1885), he became familiar with Dutch realism (Potato Eaters, 1885). He then moved to Antwerp to attend the École des Beaux-Arts, where he discovered the work of Peter Paul Rubens. But, put off by the teaching he received, he left again in February 1886 to join his brother in Paris, who took him in at a studio in Montmartre.

Van Gogh frequented the milieu of Impressionist and Neo-Impressionist painters (Camille Pissarro, Paul Gauguin, Paul Signac). He joined the studio of Cormon (1845-1924), where he became friends with Émile Bernard and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, who were to exert a clear influence on him. The three friends organized their first exhibition in 1887. They didn't sell any paintings, but they knew that their time had not yet come.

In contact with Gauguin, but also under the influence of Japanese prints, Van Gogh refined his research into color; his palette became lighter and more diversified, his style more flexible, giving rise to experiments in still lifes, landscapes and portraits (Père Tanguy, 1887). To perfect his work, he needed to find skies other than those of Paris. So, in February 1888, he moved to Arles. Dazzled by the light of the Midi, Van Gogh made color the very object of his work, rather than just a component of it. He sought the greatest possible intensity in both tones (such as the yellows in the Sunflower series) and chromatic relationships (yellow/blue, yellow/green, blue/green, red/green): flowers (Peach in bloom, "Souvenir de Mauve", 1888), landscapes (the Crau Plain with the ruins of Montmajour), interiors (the Night Café), portraits (Mousmée in the armchair) are charged with great expressivity.

Living alone among the people of Arles, who were suspicious of this strange outsider, Van Gogh sank into depression. Yet he did not abandon his dream of forming a community of painters. He finally persuaded Gauguin to join him. The master of Pont-Aven arrived in Arles in November 1888 and took up residence in the "Yellow House" - his host's studio.

But he couldn't stand Gauguin's inexpressive nature, and on the evening of December 23, 1888, after a more violent argument than the previous ones, he left for the house. Shortly afterwards, Van Gogh took a knife and cut off part of his left ear, which he then took to a prostitute. Two self-portraits bear witness to this gesture.

Admitted to the Saint-Rémy-de-Provence asylum, where he remained for a year (May 1889-May 1890), Van Gogh devoted himself to a style of painting in which elongated brushstrokes and twisted forms convey the force of his torments (Starry night, 1889). As soon as he was discharged, he had to leave Arles under pressure from the locals, whom he frightened.

Terribly weakened, Van Gogh agreed to go to Auvers-sur-Oise, where Dr. Paul Gachet lived. A doctor, but also an art lover and himself a painter in his spare time, Gachet was a friend of Paul Cézanne, Édouard Manet, Auguste Renoir and Edgar Degas. Through Théo Van Gogh, he became aware of Vincent's work, the importance of which he immediately sensed, at the same time as his illness. From then on, he never stopped trying to get him to come to Auvers-sur-Oise, drawing criticism - unfounded at the time - from those who accused him of acting out of self-interest.

A real friendship developed between the two men. Gachet succeeded in establishing a climate of trust around Van Gogh, which had a beneficial effect. The painter painted a first portrait of his benefactor, who, filled with admiration, commissioned a second. Perhaps for the first time in his life, Van Gogh was aware that his talent was recognized and his art understood by a man of quality.

Picking up his brushes again, he spent whole days at his easel, executing several of his masterpieces: "The Church of Auvers-sur-Oise", "View from the bedside" (1890), "Cottages at Cordeville", "Wheatfield with Crows". Here again, color is crucial, but it becomes darker, and forms more tortured, like the painter's mind. His inner pain is the strongest: "There's something inside me: what is it?" he desperately wants to know. He only benefited from the help Gachet was able to give him for three months, and ended up quarrelling with Gachet as well.

On July 27, 1890, while out for a walk, Van Gogh shot himself in the chest and, despite Gachet's care, died two days later. This was the end of an artist who had signed over eight hundred canvases, but who, during his lifetime, sold only one, the "The Red Vineyard", bought in Brussels in 1890.

412 Vincent van Gogh Paintings

The Courtyard of the Hospital at Arles, 1889 by Vincent van Gogh | Painting Reproduction

The Courtyard of the Hospital at Arles 1889

Oil Painting
$632
Canvas Print
$60.33
SKU: VVG-1125
Vincent van Gogh
Original Size: 73 x 92 cm
Oskar Reinhart Museum, Winterthur, Switzerland

Peach Blossom in the Crau, 1889 by Vincent van Gogh | Painting Reproduction

Peach Blossom in the Crau 1889

Oil Painting
$608
Canvas Print
$60.89
SKU: VVG-1126
Vincent van Gogh
Original Size: 65 x 81 cm
Courtauld Institute of Art, London, United Kingdom

Rosebush in Blossom, 1889 by Vincent van Gogh | Painting Reproduction

Rosebush in Blossom 1889

Oil Painting
$456
SKU: VVG-1127
Vincent van Gogh
Original Size: 33 x 41.3 cm
National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, Japan

Pollard Willows, 1889 by Vincent van Gogh | Painting Reproduction

Pollard Willows 1889

Oil Painting
$481
Canvas Print
$50.22
SKU: VVG-1128
Vincent van Gogh
Original Size: 55 x 65 cm
Private Collection

The Iris, 1889 by Vincent van Gogh | Painting Reproduction

The Iris 1889

Oil Painting
$501
Canvas Print
$59.36
SKU: VVG-1129
Vincent van Gogh
Original Size: 62.2 x 48.3 cm
National Gallery of Art, Ottawa, Canada

The Garden of the Asylum at Saint-Remy, 1889 by Vincent van Gogh | Painting Reproduction

The Garden of the Asylum at Saint-Remy 1889

Oil Painting
$632
Canvas Print
$59.79
SKU: VVG-1130
Vincent van Gogh
Original Size: 91.5 x 72 cm
Kroller-Mueller Museum, Otterlo, Netherlands

Emperor Moth, 1889 by Vincent van Gogh | Painting Reproduction

Emperor Moth 1889

Oil Painting
$380
Canvas Print
$50.22
SKU: VVG-1131
Vincent van Gogh
Original Size: 33.5 x 24.5 cm
Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Lilac Bush (Lilacs), 1889 by Vincent van Gogh | Painting Reproduction

Lilac Bush (Lilacs) 1889

Oil Painting
$635
Canvas Print
$60.33
SKU: VVG-1132
Vincent van Gogh
Original Size: 73 x 92 cm
The State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia

Field of Spring Wheat at Sunrise, 1889 by Vincent van Gogh | Painting Reproduction

Field of Spring Wheat at Sunrise 1889

Oil Painting
$630
Canvas Print
$59.50
SKU: VVG-1133
Vincent van Gogh
Original Size: 72 x 92 cm
Kroller-Mueller Museum, Otterlo, Netherlands

Les Alpilles, Mountainous Landscape, Saint-Remy, 1889 by Vincent van Gogh | Painting Reproduction

Les Alpilles, Mountainous Landscape, Saint-Remy 1889

Oil Painting
$595
Canvas Print
$50.22
SKU: VVG-1134
Vincent van Gogh
Original Size: 59 x 72 cm
Kroller-Mueller Museum, Otterlo, Netherlands

Mountainous Landscape Behind Saint-Paul Hospital, 1889 by Vincent van Gogh | Painting Reproduction

Mountainous Landscape Behind Saint-Paul Hospital 1889

Oil Painting
$595
Canvas Print
$59.92
SKU: VVG-1135
Vincent van Gogh
Original Size: 70.5 x 88.5 cm
New Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen, Denmark

The Olive Trees, 1889 by Vincent van Gogh | Painting Reproduction

The Olive Trees 1889

Oil Painting
$622
Canvas Print
$60.20
SKU: VVG-1136
Vincent van Gogh
Original Size: 72.6 x 91.4 cm
Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA

Green Wheat Field, 1889 by Vincent van Gogh | Painting Reproduction

Green Wheat Field 1889

Oil Painting
$635
Canvas Print
$72.29
SKU: VVG-1137
Vincent van Gogh
Original Size: 73 x 92 cm
Kunsthaus, Zurich, Switzerland

Green Wheat Field with Cypress, 1889 by Vincent van Gogh | Painting Reproduction

Green Wheat Field with Cypress 1889

Oil Painting
$630
Canvas Print
$75.67
SKU: VVG-1138
Vincent van Gogh
Original Size: 73.5 x 92.5 cm
National Gallery, Prague, Czech Republic

Field with Poppies, 1889 by Vincent van Gogh | Painting Reproduction

Field with Poppies 1889

Oil Painting
$630
Canvas Print
$60.61
SKU: VVG-1139
Vincent van Gogh
Original Size: 71 x 91 cm
Kunsthalle, Bremen, Germany

Olive Grove, 1889 by Vincent van Gogh | Painting Reproduction

Olive Grove 1889

Oil Painting
$474
Canvas Print
$57.56
SKU: VVG-1140
Vincent van Gogh
Original Size: 45.5 x 59.5 cm
Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Wheat Field with Reaper and Sun, 1889 by Vincent van Gogh | Painting Reproduction

Wheat Field with Reaper and Sun 1889

Oil Painting
$632
Canvas Print
$60.33
SKU: VVG-1141
Vincent van Gogh
Original Size: 72 x 92 cm
Kroller-Mueller Museum, Otterlo, Netherlands

Cypresses, 1889 by Vincent van Gogh | Painting Reproduction

Cypresses 1889

Oil Painting
$632
Canvas Print
$60.20
SKU: VVG-1142
Vincent van Gogh
Original Size: 93.4 x 74 cm
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA

Cypresses with Two Female Figures, c.1889/90 by Vincent van Gogh | Painting Reproduction

Cypresses with Two Female Figures c.1889/90

Oil Painting
$522
Canvas Print
$59.50
SKU: VVG-1143
Vincent van Gogh
Original Size: 65 x 49 cm
Kroller-Mueller Museum, Otterlo, Netherlands

Olive Orchard, 1889 by Vincent van Gogh | Painting Reproduction

Olive Orchard 1889

Oil Painting
$630
Canvas Print
$60.33
SKU: VVG-1144
Vincent van Gogh
Original Size: 73 x 92 cm
Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, USA

Wheat Field with Cypresses, 1889 by Vincent van Gogh | Painting Reproduction

Wheat Field with Cypresses 1889

Oil Painting
$635
Canvas Print
$59.64
SKU: VVG-1145
Vincent van Gogh
Original Size: 73 x 93.4 cm
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA

Olive Grove, 1889 by Vincent van Gogh | Painting Reproduction

Olive Grove 1889

Oil Painting
$622
Canvas Print
$59.50
SKU: VVG-1146
Vincent van Gogh
Original Size: 72 x 92 cm
Kroller-Mueller Museum, Otterlo, Netherlands

Landscape with Wheat Sheaves and Rising Moon, 1889 by Vincent van Gogh | Painting Reproduction

Landscape with Wheat Sheaves and Rising Moon 1889

Oil Painting
$630
Canvas Print
$59.92
SKU: VVG-1147
Vincent van Gogh
Original Size: 72 x 92 cm
Kroller-Mueller Museum, Otterlo, Netherlands

Undergrowth with Ivy, 1889 by Vincent van Gogh | Painting Reproduction

Undergrowth with Ivy 1889

Oil Painting
$489
Canvas Print
$50.22
SKU: VVG-1148
Vincent van Gogh
Original Size: 49 x 64 cm
Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands

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