Vincent Van Gogh

Vincent Van Gogh was born in Holland in 1853. His father was a clergyman, a family tradition that Vincent was to consider as a career. But two of Van Gogh's uncles had a gallery in The Hague which they sold to an international art dealer, Goupil, who had galleries in several countries. Van Gogh had shown some interest in art as a child and when he was 16 he took his first job working for Goupil. He worked in The Hague and then in London. But he was very unsuccessful at this job since he could never keep from offending the wealthy customers and was fired in 1876.1 In 1877 he worked in a book store. In 1878-79 Van Gogh made a decision to join his family tradition and began training for the ministry at the University of Amsterdam. He failed at this too.

Throughout his life, Van Gogh was "imbued with a strong sense of mission" in whatever field he pursued.2 When he failed at the theological seminary Van Gogh s

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Pere Tanguy he also saw works by Pissarro, Cezanne, Renoir and others that interested him very much. Although he used the Impressionist style for a while, he knew it was not the way for him to express himself. "They loved the appearance of things . . . he loved passionately the things themselves."9 The emotionally troubled Van Gogh sought more from his art than creative satisfaction, his work was "his defense against disintegration."10 Van Gogh began to study in the studio of a painter named Cormon. Theo Van Gogh's influence probably got Vincent into the popular class where he stood out among the young students. But he was very persistent in this frustrating situation and his drawing improved.11 Henri de Toulouse Lautrec was one of the students and Van Gogh tried to enter into the exciting life of Lautrec's studio and his friends, but Van Gogh was always shy and ill at ease and far too serious. Van Gogh's luck changed for the better when he met Camille Pissarro, the Impressionist painter. Pissarro convinced Van Gogh to give up his dark earth colors and use the bright palette of the Impressionists.12 The change in color went along with a change in Van Gogh's whole approach. From the example of the other painters his ex
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Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page)

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