Who Was Vincent van Gogh?

Do you know a painter who is really famous now but only sold one painting during his lifetime? This is Vincent van Gogh. Today, I am going to talk about this famous and popular painter. The reason why he sold only one painting is that his unique painting style was not recognized in his time. Van Gogh was a post-impressionist painter. Post-Impressionism is an artistic movement that originated in France during the late 19th century. Unlike Impressionism, which used natural light and color, Post-Impressionism emphasized the use of symbols. In this way, Van Gogh also painted symbolic paintings with original and intense colors.

His Life

Van Gogh wanted to create a community of artists with his fellow artists, so he decided to stay with Paul Gauguin. But less than three months later, their relationship became distant. They often argued over different painting styles, and during a fight, Van Gogh cut off his own ear. After that, Van Gogh was treated as mentally ill in the village. As a result, Van Gogh's mental state worsened, and he was admitted to a mental hospital. After being discharged and then being readmitted, Van Gogh came to think that he was locked up in a mental hospital. So he shot himself with a pistol. Many of His Works

This painting, “The Starry Night,” was painted after Van Gogh came out of the mental hospital. You can see he depicted his mental state in this painting. During the 12 months he was confined in the hospital, he was unable to see the night sky. So, he painted this work while imagining the night sky he saw. Consequently, there are many differences between this work and the picture he drew while looking at the night sky himself. Van Gogh's original night painting seems to copy the night landscape using Van Gogh's techniques, and only the work "Starry Night" does not look like a real landscape as the stars are swirling around. This represents his mental state. The picture was painted using a technique called impasto, which creates a textured effect by applying thick layers of oil paint. It makes this painting look more colorful.

The name of this work is “The Potato Eaters.” This painting is considered Van Gogh's first work and his representative work. It depicts the life of a poor farmer family that eats a simple dinner of potatoes and tea after working hard. The dark room, the small lights, and the faces of people that look distressed, etc. show a realistic depiction of poor farmers. This painting was completed after as many as 40 drafts and is considered one of Van Gogh's favorite works.

This painting, “Sunflowers,” is one of Van Gogh's most famous paintings and was painted during Van Gogh's happiest days. Van Gogh painted a lot of sunflowers because he wanted to decorate the studio where he lived with Gauguin. This work also uses impasto, the technique I mentioned earlier. In this painting, he painted thickly and roughly, making the sunflower look more three-dimensional. Van Gogh painted two identical paintings, one of which is displayed at the Van Gogh Museum.

The name of this painting is “Vincent van Gogh,” and it is his self-portrait. He painted about 43 self-portraits. The reason he painted so many was to practice drawing portraits. He was poor at the time and had no money to find a model, so he used himself as a model. He didn't have money to buy a canvas, so he painted and then painted at the back of it again. To practice painting, he painted with and without a beard, with and without a cigarette in his mouth, and before and after his ears were cut off. He painted himself looking into a mirror, so the face you can see in the picture is inverted from his actual face.

Loving Vincent

“Loving Vincent” is a movie that was released in 2017. It is an animation film made with over 65,000 frames drawn by artists. A year after the death of Van Gogh, who was not recognized as a painter and sold only one painting throughout his entire life, it was suggested that his death might have been a result of murder rather than suicide.. And this is a movie that explores his mysterious death. 115 artists painted using Van Gogh's techniques, making it easier to immerse yourself in the movie as it looks like a movie drawn by Van Gogh himself. The story is also interesting, so if you're interested, watch this movie.

Listen to the article as read by the author: