Portrait of Vincent van Gogh

Vincent van Gogh Painting Reproductions 1 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

Starry Night, 1889 by Vincent van Gogh | Painting Reproduction

Starry Night 1889

Oil Painting
$635
Canvas Print
$61.17
SKU: VVG-1101
Vincent van Gogh
Original Size: 73.7 x 92.1 cm
Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA

Irises, 1889 by Vincent van Gogh | Painting Reproduction

Irises 1889

Oil Painting
$826
Canvas Print
$58.12
SKU: VVG-1102
Vincent van Gogh
Original Size: 71 x 93 cm
J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, USA

Red Vineyards at Arles, 1888 by Vincent van Gogh | Painting Reproduction

Red Vineyards at Arles 1888

Oil Painting
$630
Canvas Print
$60.89
SKU: VVG-1103
Vincent van Gogh
Original Size: 73 x 91 cm
Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow, Russia

Memory of the Garden at Etten (Women of Arles), 1888 by Vincent van Gogh | Painting Reproduction

Memory of the Garden at Etten (Women of Arles) 1888

Oil Painting
$630
Canvas Print
$58.95
SKU: VVG-1104
Vincent van Gogh
Original Size: 73 x 92 cm
The State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia

The Sower, 1888 by Vincent van Gogh | Painting Reproduction

The Sower 1888

Oil Painting
$622
Canvas Print
$60.06
SKU: VVG-1105
Vincent van Gogh
Original Size: 73.5 x 93 cm
E.G. Buhrle Foundation Collection, Zurich, Switzerland

The Sower, 1888 by Vincent van Gogh | Painting Reproduction

The Sower 1888

Oil Painting
$327
Canvas Print
$50.22
SKU: VVG-1106
Vincent van Gogh
Original Size: 32 x 40 cm
Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands

L'Arlesienne: Madame Joseph-Michel Ginoux, c.1888/89 by Vincent van Gogh | Painting Reproduction

L'Arlesienne: Madame Joseph-Michel Ginoux c.1888/89

Oil Painting
$572
Canvas Print
$60.33
SKU: VVG-1107
Vincent van Gogh
Original Size: 91.4 x 73.7 cm
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA

Vincent's Chair with His Pipe, 1888 by Vincent van Gogh | Painting Reproduction

Vincent's Chair with His Pipe 1888

Oil Painting
$572
Canvas Print
$59.23
SKU: VVG-1108
Vincent van Gogh
Original Size: 91.8 x 73 cm
National Gallery, London, United Kingdom

Paul Gauguin's Arm Chair, 1888 by Vincent van Gogh | Painting Reproduction

Paul Gauguin's Arm Chair 1888

Oil Painting
$572
Canvas Print
$60.20
SKU: VVG-1109
Vincent van Gogh
Original Size: 90.5 x 72.5 cm
Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Still Life with a Plate of Onions, 1889 by Vincent van Gogh | Painting Reproduction

Still Life with a Plate of Onions 1889

Oil Painting
$524
Canvas Print
$58.26
SKU: VVG-1110
Vincent van Gogh
Original Size: 50 x 64 cm
Kroller-Mueller Museum, Otterlo, Netherlands

Crab on Its Back, 1889 by Vincent van Gogh | Painting Reproduction

Crab on Its Back 1889

Oil Painting
$423
Canvas Print
$50.22
SKU: VVG-1111
Vincent van Gogh
Original Size: 38 x 46.5 cm
Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Still Life: Bloaters on a Piece of Yellow Paper, 1889 by Vincent van Gogh | Painting Reproduction

Still Life: Bloaters on a Piece of Yellow Paper 1889

Oil Painting
$464
Canvas Print
$50.22
SKU: VVG-1112
Vincent van Gogh
Original Size: 33 x 41 cm
Private Collection

Still Life with Oranges, Lemons and Blue Gloves, 1889 by Vincent van Gogh | Painting Reproduction

Still Life with Oranges, Lemons and Blue Gloves 1889

Oil Painting
$553
Canvas Print
$58.53
SKU: VVG-1113
Vincent van Gogh
Original Size: 48 x 62 cm
National Gallery of Art, Washington, USA

Still Life: Vase with Fourteen Sunflowers, 1889 by Vincent van Gogh | Painting Reproduction

Still Life: Vase with Fourteen Sunflowers 1889

Oil Painting
$630
Canvas Print
$57.56
SKU: VVG-1114
Vincent van Gogh
Original Size: 95 x 73 cm
Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Still Life: Vase with Fourteen Sunflowers, 1889 by Vincent van Gogh | Painting Reproduction

Still Life: Vase with Fourteen Sunflowers 1889

Oil Painting
$622
Canvas Print
$74.59
SKU: VVG-1115
Vincent van Gogh
Original Size: 100.5 x 76.5 cm
Yasuda Memorial Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, Japan

Still Life: Vase with Twelve Sunflowers, c.1888/89 by Vincent van Gogh | Painting Reproduction

Still Life: Vase with Twelve Sunflowers c.1888/89

Oil Painting
$630
Canvas Print
$59.79
SKU: VVG-1116
Vincent van Gogh
Original Size: 92.4 x 71.1 cm
Philadelphia Museum of Art, Pennsylvania, USA

Self Portrait with Bandaged Ear and Pipe, 1889 by Vincent van Gogh | Painting Reproduction

Self Portrait with Bandaged Ear and Pipe 1889

Oil Painting
$455
Canvas Print
$57.74
SKU: VVG-1117
Vincent van Gogh
Original Size: 51 x 45 cm
Private Collection

Portrait of Doctor Felix Rey, 1889 by Vincent van Gogh | Painting Reproduction

Portrait of Doctor Felix Rey 1889

Oil Painting
$544
Canvas Print
$85.35
SKU: VVG-1118
Vincent van Gogh
Original Size: 64 x 53 cm
Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow, Russia

Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear, 1889 by Vincent van Gogh | Painting Reproduction

Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear 1889

Oil Painting
$537
Canvas Print
$76.11
SKU: VVG-1119
Vincent van Gogh
Original Size: 60.5 x 50 cm
Courtauld Institute of Art, London, United Kingdom

Orchard in Bloom with View of Arles, 1889 by Vincent van Gogh | Painting Reproduction

Orchard in Bloom with View of Arles 1889

Oil Painting
$635
Canvas Print
$59.50
SKU: VVG-1120
Vincent van Gogh
Original Size: 72 x 92 cm
Neue Pinakothek, Munich, Germany

Portrait of the Postman Joseph Roulin, 1889 by Vincent van Gogh | Painting Reproduction

Portrait of the Postman Joseph Roulin 1889

Oil Painting
$606
Canvas Print
$89.45
SKU: VVG-1121
Vincent van Gogh
Original Size: 64.4 x 55.2 cm
Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA

Portrait of the Postman Joseph Roulin, 1889 by Vincent van Gogh | Painting Reproduction

Portrait of the Postman Joseph Roulin 1889

Oil Painting
$488
Canvas Print
$63.38
SKU: VVG-1122
Vincent van Gogh
Original Size: 65 x 54 cm
Kroller-Mueller Museum, Otterlo, Netherlands

Two White Butterflies, 1889 by Vincent van Gogh | Painting Reproduction

Two White Butterflies 1889

Oil Painting
$463
Canvas Print
$50.22
SKU: VVG-1123
Vincent van Gogh
Original Size: 55 x 45.5 cm
Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands

A Field of Yellow Flowers, 1889 by Vincent van Gogh | Painting Reproduction

A Field of Yellow Flowers 1889

Oil Painting
$494
Canvas Print
$50.22
SKU: VVG-1124
Vincent van Gogh
Original Size: 34.5 x 53 cm
Kunstmuseum, Winterthur, Switzerland

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