Vincent Van Gogh

Vincent Van Gogh: Insanely Magnificent

On March 30, 1853 Anna Cornelia Carbentus gave birth to a boy in Groot-Zundest, Holland. Unbeknownst to her or the father, Reverend Theodorus van Gogh of the protestant church, this boy would be tormented by severe mental instability for the majority of his life, die from his own hands, and ultimately change the outlook of art for the rest of history. His life was to become one of uncertainty and madness, involving largely his own need to find his life's calling and the undeniable love for art. This man was Vincent Van Gogh.

Most specifics concerning Vincent's childhood are unknown. He had five siblings three sisters Elisabeth, Anna, Wil, and his two brothers Theo and Cor. He was a quiet child with little or no attention spent on art or artistic qualities.

In 1870, after completing an array of education, Van Gogh was employed by the Hague gallery, located in Paris, at the age of 16. Later in 1873 Vincent was transferred by the gallery to London and then again to Paris by 1875. After bouncing across Europe professionally Vincent lost all desire to become a professional art dealer. Instead he strove towards following in his father's foot steps and devoting his life to the evangelization of the poor. Despite his erratic behavior his parents agreed to pay for his education. Van Gogh soon abandoned his lessons and began a ministry with the miners of Borinage. During this time he was able to identify with the miners, their lifestyles, and their families. After working with the miners for a period of time, Vincent's own urge to leave something of importance behind for mankind along with his brother Theo's consistent pressure drove him to became an artist. Without any proper training, or even having open artistic talent, Van Gogh doubted his abilities. However, Theo continued to push Vincent forward and supported him financially.

In 1881, at the age of 27, Van Gogh moved back in with his parents after completing nine months of further education at Brussels. At home Van Gogh set to work on teaching himself how to draw. He tested various different techniques and styles along with experimenting with different subject matters. Other areas he work on mastering were perspective, shading, and anatomy. Many of his earliest pieces were of peasant life, which could be attributed with his work with the miners of Borinage. By the end of 1881 Van Gogh had moved from his parent's house and was acquiring lessons from Anton Mauve, his cousin through marriage. Gogh also began a relationship with Sien Hoomik, a pregnant prostitute whom had one child out of wedlock already. Van Gogh was quickly turned away by Mauve for such a relationship causing the two to fall out of friendship. However, Van Gogh continued to master the skills of drawing and used Hoomik as a model whenever possible.

Vincent soon became irritated and made the choice to break off his relationship with Hoomik and move once again to follow artists like Van Rappard and Mauve to Drenthe. Van Gogh quickly lost all of his inspiration and found models too trying. Once again he moved back in with his parents to continue practice. By the age of 29 Gogh had moved from his parent's house and worked in a make shift studio located in a room he rented from a Catholic Church. From the beginning of Van Gogh's artistic career he had the ambition to draw and paint figures. In 1884 he began working on mastering weathered hands, heads and other anatomical features of peasants. He was planning on creating a multiple figure piece that would push his name into a respected name of the artistic community. The piece he created was entitled 'The Potato Eaters' and was completed in 1885. This piece proved to be a success, but not in his life time.

After the personal failure of 'The Potato Eaters' Vincent decided he needed some professional training in art techniques. He enrolled later that year in an academy in Antwerp where he discovered the art of Peter Paul Rubens, and various Japanese artists. Both of these factors would greatly affect Van Gogh's style in art. By early 1886 he had moved to Paris to live with his brother Theo. Here Van Gogh was immersed in a centrifuge of modern art from the impressionist and post impressionists. Van Gogh quickly dropped the dark colors he had used to create 'The Potato Eaters' after discovering the palette to be horrendously out of date. He adopted the brighter more vibrant colors with ease and began experimenting with the techniques he saw in the art of the impressionist and post impressionists. He soon began to research the styles found in the Japanese artwork he had discovered a year earlier.

While in Paris Gogh was acquainted with various other artists like Paul Gauguin, Camille Pissarro, Claude Monet, and Emile