Van Gogh's paintings: names and descriptions. The best paintings by Van Gogh with names and descriptions Popular painting by Van Gogh

When 37-year-old Vincent Van Gogh died on July 29, 1890, his work was virtually unknown. Today his paintings are worth eye-popping sums and decorate best museums peace.

125 years after the death of the great Dutch painter, the time has come to learn more about him and dispel some of the myths with which his biography, like the entire history of art, is full.

He changed several jobs before becoming an artist

The son of a minister, Van Gogh began working at age 16. His uncle took him on as a trainee as an art dealer in The Hague. He had occasion to travel to London and Paris, where the company's branches were located. In 1876 he was fired. After this, he worked for some time as a school teacher in England, then as a bookstore salesman. From 1878 he served as a preacher in Belgium. Van Gogh was in need, he had to sleep on the floor, but less than a year later he was fired from this post. Only after this did he finally become an artist and did not change his occupation again. In this field he became famous, however, posthumously.

Van Gogh's career as an artist was short

In 1881, the self-taught Dutch artist returned to the Netherlands, where he devoted himself to painting. He was supported financially and materially by his younger brother Theodore, a successful art dealer. In 1886, the brothers settled in Paris, and these two years in the French capital turned out to be fateful. Van Gogh took part in exhibitions of the Impressionists and Neo-Impressionists; he began to use a light and bright palette and experiment with brush stroke techniques. The artist spent the last two years of his life in the south of France, where he created a number of his most famous paintings.

In his entire ten-year career, he sold only a few of his more than 850 paintings. His drawings (about 1,300 of them remained) were then unclaimed.

Most likely he didn't cut off his own ear.

In February 1888, after living in Paris for two years, Van Gogh moved to the south of France, to the city of Arles, where he hoped to found a community of artists. He was accompanied by Paul Gauguin, with whom he became friends in Paris. The officially accepted version of events is as follows:

On the night of December 23, 1888, they quarreled and Gauguin left. Van Gogh, armed with a razor, pursued his friend, but, not catching up, returned home and, in frustration, partially cut off his left ear, then wrapped it in newspaper and gave it to some prostitute.

In 2009, two German scientists published a book in which they suggested that Gauguin, being a good swordsman, cut off part of Van Gogh's ear with a saber during a duel. According to this theory, Van Gogh, in the name of friendship, agreed to hide the truth, otherwise Gauguin would have faced prison.

The most famous paintings were painted by him in a psychiatric clinic

In May 1889, Van Gogh sought help at the Saint-Paul-de-Mausole psychiatric hospital, located in a former monastery in the city of Saint-Rémy-de-Provence in Southern France. The artist was initially diagnosed with epilepsy, but examination also revealed bipolar disorder, alcoholism and metabolic disorders. Treatment consisted mainly of baths. He remained in the hospital for a year and painted a number of landscapes there. Over one hundred paintings from this period include some of his most famous works, such as " Starlight Night"(purchased by the New York Museum of Modern Art in 1941) and "Irises" (purchased by an Australian industrialist in 1987 for a then-record sum of $53.9 million)

Vincent Willem van Gogh (Dutch: Vincent Willem van Gogh; March 30, 1853, Grote-Zundert, Netherlands - July 29, 1890, Auvers-sur-Oise, France) - Dutch artist is a post-impressionist whose work had a timeless influence on 20th-century painting. In just over ten years, he created more than 2,100 works, including about 860 oil paintings. Among them are portraits, self-portraits, landscapes and still lifes, depicting olive trees, cypress trees, wheat fields and sunflowers. Van Gogh was overlooked by most critics until his suicide at the age of 37, which was preceded by years of anxiety, poverty and mental disorders.

Born on March 30, 1853 in the village of Groot Zundert (Dutch. Groot Zundert) in the province of North Brabant in the south of the Netherlands, near the Belgian border. Vincent's father was Theodore Van Gogh (born 02/08/1822), a Protestant pastor, and his mother was Anna Cornelia Carbenthus, the daughter of a venerable bookbinder and bookseller from The Hague. Vincent was the second of seven children of Theodore and Anna Cornelia. He received his name in honor of his paternal grandfather, who also devoted his entire life to the Protestant church. This name was intended for Theodore and Anna's first child, who was born a year earlier than Vincent and died on the first day. So Vincent, although born second, became the eldest of the children.

Four years after Vincent's birth, on May 1, 1857, his brother Theodorus van Gogh (Theo) was born. In addition to him, Vincent had a brother Cor (Cornelis Vincent, May 17, 1867) and three sisters - Anna Cornelia (February 17, 1855), Liz (Elizabeth Guberta, May 16, 1859) and Wil (Willemina Jacoba, March 16, 1862). Family members remember Vincent as a willful, difficult and boring child with “strange manners”, which was the reason for his frequent punishments. According to the governess, there was something strange about him that distinguished him from the others: of all the children, Vincent was the least pleasant to her, and she did not believe that anything worthwhile could come of him. Outside the family, on the contrary, Vincent showed the other side of his character - he was quiet, serious and thoughtful. He hardly played with other children. In the eyes of his fellow villagers, he was a good-natured, friendly, helpful, compassionate, sweet and modest child. When he was 7 years old, he went to a village school, but a year later he was taken away from there, and together with his sister Anna he studied at home, with a governess. On October 1, 1864, he went to boarding school in Zevenbergen, located 20 km from his home. Leaving home caused Vincent a lot of suffering; he could not forget it, even as an adult. On September 15, 1866, he began studying at another boarding school - Willem II College in Tilburg. Vincent is good at languages ​​- French, English, German. There he received drawing lessons. In March 1868, in the middle school year, Vincent suddenly dropped out of school and returned to Father's house. This ends his formal education. He recalled his childhood like this: “My childhood was dark, cold and empty...”.

In July 1869, Vincent got a job in the Hague branch of the large art and trading company Goupil & Cie, owned by his uncle Vincent (“Uncle Saint”). There he received the necessary training as a dealer. Initially, the future artist set to work with great zeal, achieved good results, and in June 1873 he was transferred to the London branch of Goupil & Cie. Through daily contact with works of art, Vincent began to understand and appreciate painting. In addition, he visited the city's museums and galleries, admiring the works of Jean-François Millet and Jules Breton. At the end of August, Vincent moved to 87 Hackford Road and rented a room in the house of Ursula Loyer and her daughter Eugenie. There is a version that he was in love with Eugenia, although many early biographers mistakenly call her by the name of her mother, Ursula. In addition to this naming confusion that has been going on for decades, recent research suggests that Vincent was not in love with Eugenie at all, but with a German woman named Caroline Haanebeek. What actually happened remains unknown. The lover's refusal shocked and disappointed the future artist; he gradually lost interest in his work and began to turn to the Bible. In 1874, Vincent was transferred to the Paris branch of the company, but after three months of work he again left for London. Things were getting worse for him, and in May 1875 he was again transferred to Paris, where he attended exhibitions at the Salon and Louvre and eventually began to try his hand at painting. Gradually, this activity began to take up more of his time, and Vincent finally lost interest in work, deciding for himself that “art has no worse enemies than art dealers.” As a result, at the end of March 1876 he was fired from Goupil & Cie due to bad work, despite the patronage of relatives and co-owners of the company.

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A madman, a hermit, a genius... no matter how many contradictory words his contemporaries defined the personality of Vincent Van Gogh. This name of the Dutch artist is now known to many, and his paintings lead the ranking of the most expensive works of art. But during life things were completely different. Loneliness and misunderstanding from others were constant companions Van Gogh. He became a shining example a man whose talent was appreciated only after his tragic death, as extraordinary and dual as the artist himself.

It is paradoxical that Van Gogh did not take up painting brushes at a young age. Only the last seven years of his life were associated with painting. This circumstance did not prevent him from becoming the author of about 900 paintings. Their inner mystery attracts the attention of not only professional art connoisseurs, but also ordinary people. Let's plunge into the mysterious world of Van Gogh's paintings, examining the most famous of them.

Van Gogh painted the painting in April 1885. This is one of the early works in which the author’s distinctive style began to appear. The plot is taken from real life— the canvas shows a family of poor peasants at dinner. The entire severity of their condition is conveyed by the artist with dark colors. The steam from the potatoes is the only thing that warms their souls. The dim light from the lamp, like an unquenchable fire of hope for better things, brings loved ones closer together. Full depth emotional state the peasants is so subtly expressed by Van Gogh that it subconsciously evokes a feeling of compassion in the audience.

The creation of this painting took place during the artist’s stay in psychiatric hospital small town of Saint-Rémy. Van Gogh's idea was to show the powerful power of human imagination - that state that saturates everyday things with meaning, depth, and amazing colors. Made in the post-impressionist genre, the painting depicts the night sky, which purposefully occupies the main place of the canvas. The author focuses on the huge bright yellow stars, the passing month and the amazing cypress trees growing on the hill. This composition is absorbed into the mysterious whirlwind of galaxies, the calm and harmony of the Universe. Only in the distance can you see the outline of a mountain and a sleepy town. Thus, Van Gogh subtly shows the contrast between the earthly and the heavenly.

It is not surprising that such themes occupied a special place in the work of the Dutch artist. Van Gogh repeatedly admitted brother that while looking at the stars, he indulged in dreams, was close to them in soul and heart.

Work on the painting was completed in June 1889. In the mid-twentieth century, Van Gogh's creation was transferred under the patronage of the New York Museum of Modern Art, where the artist's starry night is still available for public viewing.

This painting is one of Van Gogh's last creations. By the end of 1889, the illness had completely taken hold of the master, but he stubbornly continued to work with canvas and his favorite brushes. Foretelling its inevitable end, great artist I was looking for peace in creativity. Many art historians argue that it was the illness that influenced Van Gogh so much that he moved away from his usual style of painting. The picture is filled with a new state - weightlessness, lightness, which is skillfully emphasized by the color scheme.

The plot conveys the beauty of nature - a field dotted with different flowers. However, irises appear central to the composition, which explains the name of the masterpiece. Van Gogh chose an unusual angle for the key object. The flowers are arranged in such a way that it seems that the viewer himself is present in the field and contemplates nature alive. Warm shades of blue give the picture peace and harmony. The influence of such popular Japanese painting can be seen with the naked eye in the work. Van Gogh combined innovation with his usual impressionism, which ensured the success of his work.

The painting was first purchased for 300 francs by the French art critic Octave Mirbeau. At the end of the century, “Irises” acquired the status of the most expensive painting, since it hit the jackpot at auction - Van Gogh’s work was valued at more than $50 million.

Biographers of Van Gogh say that the theme of the painting was chosen on a whim. It is connected with the artist’s residence in the town of Arles, which is located in the south of France. It was a difficult, but also the most productive period of his work.

Not enjoying success as an artist, Van Gogh did not give up hope of creating the work that was supposed to light his star in the firmament of famous and sought-after masters. One day, returning home in the evening, he was captivated by what was happening - the people who were harvesting grapes appeared in Van Gogh's eyes as purple and blue dots, drowning in the bright light of the setting sun. The author decided to capture this moment in a new work and was not mistaken.

For many years, the painting was considered the only work that was sold during the artist’s lifetime. It was purchased for 400 francs by Anna Bosch during an exhibition in Brussels. Later, “Red Vineyards in Arles” came into the possession of the Russian collector Ivan Morozov. Nowadays it is exhibited at the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts.

This painting once again shows the artist’s admiration for the night time. It was painted during the so-called Arles period of creativity, when Van Gogh developed his own style of painting. It seems surprising that when depicting the night sky, the artist completely abandoned the use of black paint. Saturated yellow, as if breaks through the deep darkness of the night and captivates with its bright radiance.

It is interesting that Van Gogh did not recreate the night in the studio, as his contemporaries usually did, but created under open air. According to rumors, in order to be able to see his canvas, the artist attached candles to his hat and thus fought the darkness.

It should be noted that Van Gogh repeatedly turned to the genre of self-portrait throughout his creative career. The result of this hobby was a series of paintings with his own image. However, it is “Self-Portrait with a Cut-off Ear and Pipe” that has its own ambiguous backstory. Researchers of the artist’s work claim that it was a quarrel with an old friend that pushed the artist to inflict bodily harm on himself. Suffering from mental instability, Van Gogh could not cope with violent emotions, and cut off his earlobe. Actually, this is how the famous artist is presented on the canvas, tired of illness and despair.

Vincent Van Gogh is a Dutch artist, one of the brightest representatives of post-impressionism. He worked a lot and fruitfully: in just over ten years he created such a number of works that no other famous painter had ever produced. He painted portraits and self-portraits, landscapes and still lifes, cypress trees, wheat fields and sunflowers.

The artist was born near the southern border of the Netherlands in the village of Grot-Zundert. This event in the family of Pastor Theodore van Gogh and his wife Anna Cornelia Carbentus occurred on March 30, 1853. In total, there were six children in the Van Gogh family. Younger brother Theo helped Vincent throughout his life and took an active part in his difficult fate.

In the family, Vincent was a difficult, disobedient child with some oddities, so he was often punished. Outside the house, on the contrary, he looked thoughtful, serious and quiet. He hardly played with children. His fellow villagers considered him a modest, sweet, friendly and compassionate child. At the age of 7 he was sent to a village school, a year later he was taken from there and taught at home, in the fall of 1864 the boy was taken to a boarding school in Zevenbergen.

Departure hurts the boy's soul and causes him a lot of suffering. In 1866 he was transferred to another boarding school. Vincent is good at languages, and here he also gains his first drawing skills. In 1868, in the middle of the school year, he left school and went home. His education ends here. He remembers his childhood as something cold and gloomy.

Traditionally, generations of Van Goghs realized themselves in two areas of activity: painting paintings and church activities. Vincent will try himself both as a preacher and as a merchant, giving his all to the work. Having achieved certain successes, he abandons both, consecrating his life and his whole self to painting.

Carier start

In 1868, a fifteen-year-old boy entered the branch of the art company Gupil and Co. in The Hague. Behind Good work and his curiosity are directed to the London branch. During the two years that Vincent spent in London, he becomes a real businessman and connoisseur of engravings by English masters, quotes Dickens and Eliot, and a gloss appears in him. Van Gogh faced the prospect of a brilliant commission agent in the central branch of Goupil in Paris, where he was supposed to move.

Pages from the book of letters to brother Theo

In 1875, events occurred that changed his life. In a letter to Theo, he calls his condition “painful loneliness.” Researchers of the artist's biography suggest that the reason for this state is rejected love. It is not known exactly who the object of this love was. It is possible that this version is incorrect. A transfer to Paris did not help change the situation. He lost interest in Goupil and was fired.

Theology and missionary activity

In his search for himself, Vincent affirms his religious destiny. In 1877, he moved to his uncle Johannes in Amsterdam and prepared to enter the Faculty of Theology. He gets disappointed in his studies, quits classes and leaves. The desire to serve people leads him to a missionary school. In 1879, he received a position as a preacher in Wham in the south of Belgium.

He teaches the Law of God at the miners' center in Borinage, helps the families of miners, visits the sick, teaches children, reads sermons, and draws maps of Palestine to earn money. He lives in a miserable shack, eats water and bread, sleeps on the floor, physically torturing himself. In addition, it helps workers defend their rights.

Local authorities remove him from his post, as they do not accept vigorous activity and extremes. During this period, he painted a lot of miners, their wives and children.

Becoming an artist

To escape the depression associated with the events in Paturage, Van Gogh turned to painting. Brother Theo befriends him and he attends the Academy fine arts. But after a year he dropped out of school and went to his parents, continuing to study on his own.

Falls in love again. This time to my cousin. His feelings do not find an answer, but he continues his courtship, which irritates his relatives, who asked him to leave. Due to a new shock, he abandons his personal life and leaves for The Hague to take up painting. Here he takes lessons from Anton Mauve, works a lot, observes city life, mainly in poor neighborhoods. Studying “Drawing Course” by Charles Bargue, copying lithographs. Masters mixing various techniques on canvas, achieving interesting color shades in his works.

Once again he tries to start a family with a pregnant street woman whom he meets on the street. A woman with children moves in with him and becomes a model for the artist. Because of this, he quarrels with relatives and friends. Vincent himself feels happy, but not for long. The difficult character of his cohabitant turned his life into a nightmare, and they separated.

The artist goes to the province of Drenthe in the north of the Netherlands, lives in a hut, which he equipped as a workshop, paints landscapes, peasants, scenes from their work and life. Van Gogh's early works, with reservations, can be called realistic. The lack of academic education affected his drawings and inaccurate depictions of human figures.

From Drenthe he moves to his parents in Nuenen and draws a lot. Hundreds of drawings and paintings were created during this period. Along with his creativity, he paints with his students, reads a lot and takes music lessons. The themes of the works of the Dutch period are ordinary people and scenes, painted in an expressive manner with a predominance of a dark palette, gloomy and dull tones. The masterpieces of this period include the painting “The Potato Eaters” (1885), depicting a scene from the life of peasants.

Parisian period

After much thought, Vincent decides to live and create in Paris, where he moves at the end of February 1886. Here he meets his brother Theo, who rose to the rank of director art gallery. The artistic life of the French capital of this period was in full swing.

A significant event is the Impressionist exhibition on Rue Lafitte. For the first time, Signac and Seurat, who led the post-impressionism movement, which marked the final stage of impressionism, are exhibiting there. Impressionism is a revolution in art that changed the approach to painting, displacing academic techniques and subjects. The first impression and pure colors are of paramount importance, and preference is given to plein air painting.

In Paris, Van Gogh's brother Theo takes care of him, settles him in his house, and introduces him to artists. In the studio of the traditionalist artist Fernand Cormon, he met Toulouse-Lautrec, Emile Bernard and Louis Anquetin. He is greatly impressed by the paintings of the Impressionists and Post-Impressionists. In Paris, he became addicted to absinthe and even painted a still life on this topic.

Painting "Still life with absinthe"

The Parisian period (1886-1888) turned out to be the most fruitful; the collection of his works was replenished with 230 canvases. It was a time of searching for technology, studying innovative trends modern painting. He develops a new view of painting. The realistic approach is replaced by a new manner, gravitating towards impressionism and post-impressionism, which is reflected in his still lifes with flowers and landscapes.

His brother introduces him to the most prominent representatives of this movement: Camille Pissarro, Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir and others. He often goes out plein air with his artist friends. His palette gradually brightens, becomes brighter, and over time turns into a riot of colors, characteristic of his work in recent years.

Fragment of the painting “Agostina Segatori in a cafe”

In Paris, Van Gogh communicates a lot, visiting the same places where his brothers go. In "Tambourine" he even starts a small affair with its owner Agostina Segatori, who once posed for Degas. From it he paints a portrait at a table in a cafe and several works in the nude style. Another meeting place was Papa Tanga's shop, where paints and other materials for artists were sold. Here, as in many other similar institutions, artists exhibited their works.

A group of Small Boulevards is being formed, which includes Van Gogh and his comrades, who have not reached such heights as the masters of the Grand Boulevards - more famous and recognized. The spirit of competition and tension that reigned in Parisian society at that time became unbearable for the impulsive and uncompromising artist. He gets into arguments, quarrels and decides to leave the capital.

Severed ear

In February 1888, he goes to Provence and becomes attached to it with all his soul. Theo sponsors his brother, sending him 250 francs a month. In gratitude, Vincent sends his paintings to his brother. He rents four rooms in a hotel, eats in a cafe, the owners of which become his friends and pose for pictures.

With the arrival of spring, the artist is captivated by flowering trees pierced by the southern sun. He is delighted with the bright colors and transparency of the air. The ideas of impressionism are gradually disappearing, but loyalty to the light palette and plein air painting remains. The color yellow predominates in the works, acquiring a special radiance coming from the depths.

Vincent Van Gogh. Self-portrait with severed ear

To work plein air at night, he attaches candles to his hat and sketchbook, illuminating his workspace in this way. This is exactly how his paintings “Starry Night over the Rhone” and “Night Cafe” were painted. An important event was the arrival of Paul Gauguin, whom Vincent repeatedly invited to Arles. An enthusiastic and fruitful life together ends in quarrel and breakup. Self-confident, pedantic Gauguin was the complete opposite of the disorganized and restless Van Gogh.

The epilogue to this story is the stormy showdown before Christmas 1888, when Vincent cut off his ear. Gauguin, afraid that they were going to attack him, hid in the hotel. Vincent wrapped his bloody earlobe in paper and sent it to their mutual friend, the prostitute Rachelle. His friend Roulen discovered him in a pool of blood. The wound heals quickly, but his mental health returns him to his hospital bed.

Death

The residents of Arles begin to fear a city dweller who is unlike them. In 1889, they wrote a petition demanding that they be rid of the “red-haired madman.” Vincent realizes the danger of his condition and voluntarily goes to the hospital of St. Paul of Mausoleum in Saint-Rémy. During treatment, he is allowed to pee outside under the supervision of medical staff. This is how his works with characteristic wavy lines and swirls appeared (“Starry Night”, “Road with Cypress Trees and a Star”, etc.).

Painting “Starry Night”

In Saint-Rémy, periods of intense activity are followed by long breaks caused by depression. At the moment of one of the crises, he swallows paint. Despite the increasing exacerbations of the disease, brother Theo promotes his participation in the September Salon of Independents in Paris. In January 1890, Vincent exhibited “Red Vineyards in Arles” and sold them for four hundred francs, which is quite a decent amount. This was the only painting sold during his lifetime.

Painting "Red vineyards in Arles"

His joy was immeasurable. The artist did not stop working. His brother Theo is also inspired by the success of Vineyards. He supplies Vincent with paints, but he begins to eat them. In May 1890, the brother negotiated with the homeopathic therapist Dr. Gachet to treat Vincent in his clinic. The doctor himself is fond of drawing, so he happily takes on the artist’s treatment. Vincent is also attracted to Gasha and sees him as a kind-hearted and optimistic person.

A month later, Van Gogh was allowed to travel to Paris. His brother does not greet him very kindly. He has financial problems and his daughter is very sick. This technique unbalanced Vincent; he realizes that he is becoming, perhaps, and has always been a burden for his brother. Shocked, he returns to the clinic.

Fragment of the painting “Road with Cypresses and a Star”

On July 27, as usual, he goes out into the open air, but returns not with sketches, but with a bullet in his chest. The bullet he fired from the pistol hit the rib and went away from the heart. The artist himself returned to the shelter and went to bed. Lying in bed, he calmly smoked his pipe. It seemed that the wound did not cause him pain.

Gachet summoned Theo by telegram. He immediately arrived and began to reassure his brother that they would help him, that he did not need to give in to despair. The response was the phrase: “Sadness will last forever.” The artist died on July 29, 1890 at half past one in the morning. He was buried in the town of Mary on July 30.

Many of his artist friends came to say goodbye to the artist. The walls of the room were hung with his latest paintings. Doctor Gachet wanted to make a speech, but he cried so much that he was able to utter only a few words, the essence of which boiled down to the fact that Vincent was a great artist and an honest man, that art, which was above all for him, would repay him and perpetuate his name .

The artist's brother Theo Van Gogh died six months later. He did not forgive himself for the quarrel with his brother. His despair, which he shares with his mother, becomes unbearable, and he suffers from a nervous breakdown. This is what he wrote in a letter to his mother after his brother’s death:

“It is impossible to describe my grief, just as it is impossible to find consolation. This is a grief that will last and from which I will certainly never be freed as long as I live. The only thing that can be said is that he himself found the peace he was striving for... Life was such a heavy burden for him, but now, as often happens, everyone praises his talents... Oh, mom! He was so mine, my own brother.”

Theo Van Gogh, brother of the artist

And this last letter Vincent, written by him after a quarrel:

“It seems to me that since everyone is a little on edge and also too busy, there is no need to fully clarify all the relationships. I was a little surprised that you seemed to want to rush things. How can I help, or rather, what can I do to make you happy with this? One way or another, I mentally shake your hands tightly again and, in spite of everything, I was glad to see you all. Don't doubt it."

In 1914, Theo's remains were reburied by his widow next to Vincent's grave.

Personal life

One of the reasons mental illness Van Gogh could have had a failed personal life; he never found a life partner. The first attack of despair occurred after the refusal of the daughter of his housewife Ursula Loyer, in whom he for a long time was secretly in love. The proposal came unexpectedly, shocked the girl, and she rudely refused.

History repeated itself with widowed cousin Key Stricker Voe, but this time Vincent decides not to give up. The woman does not accept advances. On his third visit to his beloved’s relatives, he puts his hand into the flame of a candle, promising to hold it there until she gives her consent to become his wife. With this act, he finally convinced the girl’s father that he was dealing with a mentally ill person. They did not stand on ceremony with him anymore and simply escorted him out of the house.

Sexual dissatisfaction was reflected in his nervous state. Vincent begins to like prostitutes, especially those who are not very young and not very beautiful, whom he could raise. Soon he chooses a pregnant prostitute, who moves in with his 5-year-old daughter. After the birth of his son, Vincent becomes attached to the children and considers getting married.

The woman posed for the artist and lived with him for about a year. Because of her, he had to be treated for gonorrhea. The relationship deteriorated completely when the artist saw how cynical, cruel, sloppy and unbridled she was. After the separation, the lady indulged in her previous activities, and Van Gogh left The Hague.

Margot Begemann in her youth and adulthood

In recent years, Vincent has been stalked by a 41-year-old woman named Margot Begemann. She was the artist's neighbor in Nuenen and really wanted to get married. Van Gogh, rather out of pity, agrees to marry her. The parents did not give consent to this marriage. Margot almost committed suicide, but Van Gogh saved her. In the subsequent period he has many promiscuous relationships, he visits brothels and is occasionally treated for sexually transmitted diseases.

Vincent Willem van Gogh is a Dutch artist who laid the foundations of the post-impressionism movement, which largely determined the principles of creativity of modern masters.

Van Gogh was born on March 30, 1853 in the village of Groot Zundert in the province of North Brabant, bordering Belgium.

Father Theodore Van Gogh was a Protestant clergyman. Mother Anna Cornelia Carbentus is from the family of a respected bookseller and bookbinding specialist from the city (Den Haag).

Vincent was the second child, but his brother died immediately after birth, so the boy was the eldest, and after him five more children were born in the family:

• Theodorus (Theo) (Theodorus, Theo);
• Cornelis (Cor) (Cornelis, Cor);
• Anna Cornelia;
• Elizabeth (Liz) (Elizabeth, Liz);
• Willemina (Vil) (Willamina, Vil).

The baby was named after his grandfather, a minister of Protestantism. This name was supposed to be borne by the first child, but due to his early death it went to Vincent.

Memories of loved ones depict Vincent's character as very strange, capricious and wayward, disobedient and capable of unexpected antics. Outside of home and family, he was well-mannered, quiet, polite, modest, kind, distinguished by an amazingly intelligent look and a heart full of compassion. However, he avoided his peers and did not join in their games and fun.

At the age of 7, his father and mother enrolled him in school, but a year later he and his sister Anna were transferred to home schooling, and a governess taught the children.

At the age of 11, in 1864, Vincent was sent to school in Zevenbergen. Although it was only 20 km from his homeland, the child had a hard time withstanding the separation, and these experiences were remembered forever.

In 1866, Vincent was assigned as a student to the educational institution of Willem II in Tilburg (College Willem II in Tilburg). The teenager made great progress in mastering foreign languages, spoke and read French, English, and German perfectly. Teachers also noted Vincent’s ability to draw. However, in 1868 he suddenly abandoned his studies and returned home. He was no longer sent to educational institutions; he continued to receive his education at home. The famous artist’s memories of the beginning of his life were sad; childhood was associated with darkness, cold and emptiness.

Business

In 1869, in The Hague, Vincent was recruited by his uncle, who bore the same name, whom the future artist called “Uncle Saint”. Uncle was the owner of a branch of the company Goupil&Cie, which was engaged in the examination, evaluation and sale of art objects. Vincent acquired the profession of a dealer and made significant progress, so in 1873 he was sent to work in London.

Work with works of art was very interesting to Vincent, he learned to understand fine arts, and became a regular visitor to museums and exhibition halls. His favorite authors were Jean-François Millet and Jules Breton.

The story of Vincent's first love dates back to the same period. But the story was incomprehensible and confusing: he lived in a rented apartment with Ursula Loyer and her daughter Eugene; biographers argue about who was the object of love: one of them or Carolina Haanebeek. But no matter who the beloved was, Vincent was refused and lost interest in life, work, and art. He begins to read the Bible thoughtfully. During this period, in 1874, he had to transfer to the Paris branch of the company. There he again becomes a regular at museums and enjoys creating drawings. Having hated the dealer's activities, he stopped bringing income to the company, and he was fired in 1876.

Teaching and religion

In March 1876, Vincent moved to Great Britain and became a free teacher at a school in Ramsgate. At the same time, he is thinking about a career as a clergyman. In July 1876 he moved to school in Isleworth, where he additionally assisted the priest. In November 1876, Vincent reads a sermon and becomes convinced of his destiny to convey the truth of religious teaching.

In 1876, Vincent comes to the Christmas holidays in native home, and his mother and father begged him not to leave. Vincent got a job in a bookstore in Dordrecht, but he doesn’t like the trade. He devotes all his time to translating biblical texts and drawing.

His father and mother, rejoicing at his desire for religious service, send Vincent to Amsterdam, where, with the help of a relative, Johannes Stricker, he prepares in theology for admission to university, and lives with his uncle, Jan Van Gogh. Gogh), who had the rank of admiral.

After admission, Van Gogh was a theological student until July 1878, after which, disappointed, he abandoned further studies and fled from Amsterdam.

The next stage of the search was associated with the Protestant missionary school in the city of Laken, near Brussels. The school was led by Pastor Bokma. Vincent gains experience in composing and reading sermons for three months, but leaves this place too. Biographers' information is contradictory: either he quit his job himself, or was fired due to sloppiness in clothing and unbalanced behavior.

In December 1878, Vincent continued his missionary service, but now in the southern region of Belgium, in the village of Paturi. Mining families lived in the village, Van Gogh selflessly worked with children, visited houses and talked about the Bible, and cared for the sick. To support himself, he drew maps of the Holy Land and sold them. Van Gogh proved himself to be an ascetic, sincere and tireless, and as a result he was given a small salary from the Evangelical Society. He planned to enter the Evangelical school, but the education was paid, and this, according to Van Gogh, is incompatible with true faith, which cannot be related to money. At the same time, he submits a request to the mine management to improve conditions labor activity miners. He was refused and deprived of the right to preach, which shocked him and led to another disappointment.

First steps

Van Gogh found peace at his easel, and in 1880 he decided to try himself at the Brussels Royal Academy of Arts. His brother Theo supports him, but a year later his studies are abandoned again, and the eldest son returns under his parents' roof. He is absorbed in self-education and works tirelessly.

He feels love for a widowed woman cousin Kee Vos-Stricker, who raised her son and came to visit the family. Van Gogh is rejected, but persists and is kicked out of his father's house. These events shocked the young man, he flees to The Hague, immerses himself in creativity, takes lessons from Anton Mauve, comprehends the laws of fine art, and makes copies of lithographic works.

Van Gogh spends a lot of time in neighborhoods inhabited by the poor. The works of this period are sketches of courtyards, roofs, alleys:

• "Backyards" (De achtertuin) (1882);
• “Roofs. View from Van Gogh's studio" (Dak. Het uitzicht vanuit de Studio van Gogh) (1882).

An interesting technique that combines watercolor paints, sepia, ink, chalk, etc.

In The Hague he chooses a wife lung woman behavior named Christine(Van Christina), which he picked up right on the panel. Christine moved to Van Gogh with her children and became a model for the artist, but her character was terrible, and they had to separate. This episode leads to a final break with parents and loved ones.

After breaking up with Christine, Vincent moves to Drenth, in the countryside. During this period, landscape works by the artist appeared, as well as paintings depicting the life of the peasantry.

Early works

The creative period representing the first works executed in Drenthe is distinguished by its realism, but it expresses the key characteristics individual manner of the artist. Many critics believe that these features are explained by the lack of basic art education: Van Gogh did not know the laws of human representation, therefore, the characters in paintings and sketches seem angular, ungraceful, as if emerging from the bosom of nature, like rocks on which the vault of heaven presses:

• "Red Vineyards" (Rode wijngaard) (1888);
• "Peasant Woman" (Boerin) (1885);
• "The Potato Eaters" (De Aardappeleters) (1885);
• “The Old Church Tower in Nuenen” (De Oude Begraafplaats Toren in Nuenen) (1885), etc.

These works are distinguished by a dark palette of shades that convey a painful atmosphere surrounding life, painful situation ordinary people, sympathy, pain and drama of the author.

In 1885, he was forced to leave Drenthe, as he displeased the priest, who considered painting to be debauchery and forbade local residents pose for pictures.

Parisian period

Van Gogh travels to Antwerp, takes lessons at the Academy of Arts and additionally at a private educational institution, where he works a lot on the depiction of nudes.

In 1886, Vincent moved to Paris to join Theo, who worked in a dealership that specialized in transactions for the sale of art objects.

In Paris in 1887/88, Van Gogh took lessons at a private school, learned the basics Japanese art, the basics of the impressionistic style of painting, the work of Paul Gauguin. This stage in creative biography Vag Gogh is called light, the leitmotif in his works are soft blue, bright yellow, fiery shades, his brushwork is light, betraying movement, the “flow” of life:

• Agostina Segatori in het Café Tamboerijn;
• “Bridge over the Seine” (Brug over de Seine);
• "Papa Tanguy" and others.

Van Gogh admired the Impressionists and met celebrities thanks to his brother Theo:

• Edgar Degas;
• Camille Pissarro;
• Henri Touluz-Lautrec;
• Paul Gauguin;
• Emile Bernard and others.

Van Gogh found himself among good friends and like-minded people, and was involved in the process of preparing exhibitions that were organized in restaurants, bars, and theater halls. The audience did not appreciate Van Gogh, they recognized them as terrible, but he immersed himself in learning and self-improvement, comprehending the theoretical basis of color technology.

In Paris, Van Gogh created about 230 works: still lifes, portraits and landscape painting, cycles of paintings (for example, the “Shoes” series of 1887) (Schoenen).

It is interesting that the person on the canvas takes on a secondary role, and the main thing is the bright world of nature, its airiness, the richness of colors, and their subtle transitions. Van Gogh opens a new direction - post-impressionism.

Blooming and finding your own style

In 1888, Van Gogh, worried about the lack of understanding of the audience, left for the southern French city of Arles. Arles became the city in which Vincent understood the purpose of his work: not to strive to reflect the real visible world, but to express your inner “I” with the help of color and simple technical techniques.

He decides to break with the Impressionists, but the peculiarities of their style have been evident for many years in his works, in the ways of depicting light and air, in the manner of arranging color accents. Typical for impressionistic works are a series of canvases in which the same landscape, but in different time day and under different lighting conditions.

The attractiveness of Van Gogh’s style of work from his heyday lies in the contradiction between the desire for a harmonious worldview and the awareness of one’s own helplessness in the face of a disharmonious world. Full of light And festive nature works from 1888 are juxtaposed with gloomy phantasmagoric images:

• "Yellow House" (Gele huis);
• "Gauguin's Chair" (De stoel van Gauguin);
• “Cafe terrace at night” (Cafe terras bij nacht).

Dynamism, color movement, energy of the master’s brush is a reflection of the artist’s soul, his tragic quest, impulses to understand the surrounding world of living and nonliving things:

• "Red Vineyards in Arles";
• "The Sower" (Zaaier);
• "Night cafe" (Nachtkoffie).

The artist plans to establish a society uniting budding geniuses who will reflect the future of humanity. To open society, Vincent is helped by Theo. Van Gogh assigned the leading role to Paul Gauguin. When Gauguin arrived, they quarreled so much that Van Gogh almost cut his throat on December 23, 1888. Gauguin managed to escape, and Van Gogh, repenting, cut off part of his own earlobe.

Biographers have different assessments of this episode; many believe that this act was a sign of madness provoked by excessive consumption alcoholic drinks. Van Gogh was sent to a mental hospital, where he was kept in strict conditions in the department for the violently insane. Gauguin leaves, Theo takes care of Vincent. After treatment, Vincent dreams of returning to Arles. But city residents protested, and the artist was offered to settle next to the Saint-Paul hospital in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, near Arles.

Since May 1889, Van Gogh has lived in Saint-Rémy, and in a year he paints more than 150 large works and about 100 drawings and watercolors, demonstrating mastery of halftones and contrast. Among them, the landscape genre predominates, still lifes that convey the mood and contradictions in the author’s soul:

• "Starry Night" (Nightlights);
• “Landscape with olive trees” (Landschap met olijfbomen), etc.

In 1889, the fruits of Van Gogh's creativity were exhibited in Brussels and were met with rave reviews from colleagues and critics. But Van Gogh does not feel joy from the recognition that has finally come; he moves to Auvers-sur-Oise, where his brother and his family live. There he constantly creates, but the author’s depressed mood and nervous excitement are transmitted to the canvases of 1890; they are distinguished by broken lines, distorted silhouettes of objects and faces:

• “Village road with cypress trees” (Landelijke weg met cipressen);
• “Landscape in Auvers after the rain” (Landschap in Auvers na de regen);
• “Wheat field with crows” (Korenveld met kraaien), etc.

On July 27, 1890, Van Gogh was fatally wounded by a pistol. It is unknown whether the shot was planned or accidental, but the artist died a day later. He was buried in the same town, and 6 months later his brother Theo, whose grave is located next to Vincent, also died of nervous exhaustion.

Over 10 years of creativity, over 2,100 works appeared, of which about 860 were done in oils. Van Gogh became the founder of expressionism, post-impressionism, his principles formed the basis of Fauvism and modernism.

Posthumously, a series of triumphant exhibition events took place in Paris, Brussels, The Hague, and Antwerp. At the beginning of the 20th century, another wave of shows of works by the famous Dutchman took place in Paris, Cologne (Keulen), New York ( New York), Berlin (Berlijn).

Paintings

It is not known exactly how many paintings Van Gogh painted, but art historians and researchers of his work are inclined to figure about 800. In the last 70 days of his life alone, he painted 70 paintings - one per day! Let's remember the most famous paintings with names and descriptions:

The Potato Eaters appeared in 1885 in Nuenen. The author described the task in a message to Theo: he sought to show people of hard work who received little reward for their work. The hands cultivating the field accept his gifts.

Red vineyards in Arles

The famous painting dates back to 1888. The plot of the film is not fictional; Vincent talks about it in one of his messages to Theo. On the canvas the artist conveys what struck him rich colors: deep red grape leaves, piercing green sky, bright purple rain-washed road with golden reflections from the rays of the setting sun. The colors seem to flow into one another, conveying the author’s anxious mood, his tension, and the depth of his philosophical thoughts about the world. Such a plot will be repeated in Van Gogh’s work, symbolizing life eternally renewed through work.

Night cafe

"Night Cafe" appeared in Arles and presented the author's thoughts about a man who independently destroys own life. The idea of ​​self-destruction and steady movement towards madness is expressed by the contrast of bloody burgundy and green colors. To try to penetrate the secrets of twilight life, the author worked on the painting at night. The expressionistic style of writing conveys the fullness of passions, anxiety, and painfulness of life.

Van Gogh's legacy includes two series of works depicting sunflowers. In the first cycle there are flowers laid out on a table; they were painted during the Parisian period in 1887 and were soon acquired by Gauguin. The second series appeared in 1888/89 in Arles, on each canvas - sunflower flowers in a vase.

This flower symbolizes love and loyalty, friendship and warmth of human relationships, beneficence and gratitude. The artist expresses the depths of his worldview in sunflowers, associating himself with this sunny flower.

“Starry Night” was created in 1889 in Saint-Rémy; it depicts the stars and the moon in dynamics, framed by the boundless sky, the Universe eternally existing and rushing into infinity. Located on foreground The cypresses strive to reach the stars, and the village in the valley is static, motionless and devoid of aspirations for the new and infinite. Expression of color approaches and use different types brush strokes convey the multidimensionality of space, its variability and depth.

This famous self-portrait was created in Arles in January 1889. Interesting feature– dialogue between red-orange and blue-violet flowers, against the backdrop of which a person plunges into the abyss of distorted consciousness. Attention is drawn to the face and eyes, as if looking deep into the personality. Self-portraits are a conversation between the painter and himself and the universe.

"Almond Blossoms" (Amandelbloesem) created in Saint-Rémy in 1890. The spring blossoming of almond trees is a symbol of renewal, the birth and strengthening of life. The unusual thing about the canvas is that the branches float without a foundation; they are self-sufficient and beautiful.

This portrait was painted in 1890. Bright colors convey the significance of every moment; brush work creates a dynamic image of man and nature, which are inextricably linked. The image of the hero of the picture is painful and nervous: we peer into the image of a sad old man, immersed in his thoughts, as if he had absorbed the painful experience of years.

“Wheat Field with Crows” was created in July 1890 and expresses the feeling of approaching death, the hopeless tragedy of existence. The picture is filled with symbolism: the sky before a thunderstorm, approaching black birds, roads leading to the unknown, but inaccessible.

Museum

(Van Gogh Museum) opened in Amsterdam in 1973 and presents not only the most fundamental collection of his creations, but also works of the Impressionists. This is the first most popular Exhibition Center in the Netherlands.

Quotes

1. Among the clergy, as well as among the masters of the brush, a despotic academicism reigns, dull and full of prejudices;
2. Thinking about future hardships and adversities, I would not be able to create;
3. Painting is my joy and tranquility, giving me the opportunity to escape from life’s troubles;