Vincent van Gogh

12 April 2014 13:34
Vincent van Gogh is often seen as one of the best painters of the 19th century. The Dutch painter was born in 1853, in the village Zundert in the Dutch county of Brabant where his father was a minister. Part of his life was also spent France, which is also where he passed away. Partly inspired by impressionism and pointillism, Van Gogh developed his own style.

Art dealer and minister’s assistant

Vincent began his career in 1869 as the youngest employee at the international art dealer Goupil & Cie in The Hague. This particular store was founded by his uncle. After working in the art industry for a few years, Vincent became a minister’s assistant in England and, later on, a missionary in Belgium. In 1880, he came to realise that he can also serve God as an artist.

Drenthe and Brabant

From 1880 to 1890, Van Gogh was active as a painter and he produced a great amount of art in that time, including 600 paintings and nearly 1200 works on paper. Van Gogh painted in The Hague and Drenthe and then decided to become a farmer painter in Nuenen, in the county of Brabant. During this time, in the year 1885, Van Gogh painted one of his masterpieces: The potato eaters.

Paris and the south of France

In 1886, Vincent went to Paris, where he became acquainted with the French impressionists. Inspired by Impressionism and Pointillism, Van Gogh developed his own style: distinctive, loose pencil strokes and a lighter colour scheme. In 1888, Van Gogh moved to the city of Arles in southern France. This is where he painted nature in rich, bright colours and he developed a more expressive style. The year after that, in 1889, Van Gogh’s mental condition deteriorated and he was committed to a mental asylum multiple times. He had his own workshop in the asylum in Saint-Rémy and painted many masterpieces during this period, such as, the Irises and Almond Blossom. The last painting was created by Van Gogh in January 1890 in celebration of the birth of his nephew Vincent Willem van Gogh, the son of his beloved brother Theo. On the 29th of July 1890, Vincent van Gogh died as a result of being shot in the chest, which he is believed to have done himself. His brother Theo was with him when he died.

Applied arts

Antique Style Web Store offers the art by Vincent van Gogh in an applied from. The Irises have been incorporated beautifully in a glass vase, which is also fitted with a gold rim. The Almond Blossom can be seen in the stunning, inspirational tapestry and in a lovely tealight holder.