Post-Impressionism
Vincent van Gogh
In less than ten years he painted his way from dark peasant scenes to sunflowers and swirling starry skies, and changed art forever.
Or click anywhere on the painting yourself: a star, the moon, the cypress, a cottage, a sunflower or the wheat.
- Born
- 30 March 1853, Zundert
- Died
- 29 July 1890, Auvers-sur-Oise
- Movement
- Post-Impressionism
- Body of work
- Over 850 paintings
It often seems to me that the night is even more richly colored than the day, with the most intense violets, blues and greens.
A late start
Van Gogh was an art dealer, a teacher and a lay preacher before he decided, at around twenty-seven, to become an artist. In Nuenen he painted peasants and weavers in earthy tones, culminating in The Potato Eaters (1885): a peasant family around a table, in the light of a single oil lamp.
An explosion of color
In Paris he met the Impressionists and his palette grew lighter. In Arles, in the south of France, his most productive period followed, with the Yellow House, the bedroom and, in 1888, the famous Sunflowers series. It was also there that he fell out with Paul Gauguin, after which Van Gogh cut off part of his own ear.
From the asylum in Saint-Rémy he painted The Starry Night in 1889, with its swirling sky above a sleeping village: the sky at the top of this page.
His brother Theo
His brother Theo supported him both financially and emotionally. Their hundreds of letters tell how Vincent thought about color, technique and life. After Vincent's death, Theo's widow Jo van Gogh-Bonger made sure his work became world-famous.
In his final weeks, in Auvers-sur-Oise, he painted Wheatfield with Crows, among other works. Go on, click in the wheat.
Where can you see his work?
- Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam: the largest collection in the world.
- Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo: in the heart of the Veluwe national park.
- MoMA, New York: home of The Starry Night.