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Vincent van Gogh's life was marked by loneliness. He was rejected by the church and love was to be denied him. Family and friends turned against him until he finally took his own life.
Vincent van Gogh was born in 1853 as the son of a priest. He left school early and was urged by his family to work for an art dealer. In the following years he moved to London. There he met his first love, the daughter of his landlady, but she rejected him. With a broken heart, van Gogh moved to Paris in 1875. In the following years he devoted himself to religion, but after several disappointments he finally turned away from Christianity. Only at the age of 27 van Gogh decided to become a painter. He was financed by his brother Theo, an art dealer whom Vincent gave his paintings to in return for money.
In order to meet artists, van Gogh moved to Brussels, but in the long run he became neither happy nor successful there, and so he moved back home to his parents. At home he fell in love with one of his cousins, but his love remained unrequited and caused a family quarrel, as a result of which he moved out again. After a few years in the Netherlands, van Gogh moved to his brother Theo in Paris in 1886. During this time he turned to impressionism. He experimented with lighter colours and began to try out different painting techniques. After two years in Paris, van Gogh was to move to Marseilles to work as a substitute for Theo, but he got stuck in Arles. There van Gogh wanted to create the "Studio of the South", a place where artists could live and work together. Only Paul Gauguin accepted his invitation. After only two months, their living together ended with a quarrel, as a result of which van Gogh cut off a large part of his left ear. The injury was so severe that he was found unconscious the next day due to the high blood loss.
Obviously mentally stricken, van Gogh subsequently had himself admitted to a mental hospital, but he could not be helped there either. After a few months van Gogh made a first possible suicide attempt when he tried to swallow poisonous paint. During this time Theo submitted some of van Gogh's paintings to a renowned art exhibition. The reactions were extremely positive. For the first time in his life van Gogh received artistic recognition. But the success scared him off rather than pleased him. He left the mental institution and moved to Auvers. After two brief visits to Theo, each of which ended in an argument, and another failed love affair with his doctor's daughter, van Gogh shot himself in the chest with a pistol on 27 July 1890 in the open air. Despite the serious injury he returned to his inn and died two days later in the presence of his brother. Why van Gogh committed suicide is still not clear today. There is a lot of speculation about the motive for his death. Some claim that he did not want to be a burden on Theo, who in the meantime had to look after his own family, and even hoped that his death would cause an increase in the price of his paintings. Other theories say that the attempt was merely a cry for help without any real intent to kill.
Vincent van Gogh's life was marked by loneliness. He was rejected by the church and love was to be denied him. Family and friends turned against him until he finally took his own life.
Vincent van Gogh was born in 1853 as the son of a priest. He left school early and was urged by his family to work for an art dealer. In the following years he moved to London. There he met his first love, the daughter of his landlady, but she rejected him. With a broken heart, van Gogh moved to Paris in 1875. In the following years he devoted himself to religion, but after several disappointments he finally turned away from Christianity. Only at the age of 27 van Gogh decided to become a painter. He was financed by his brother Theo, an art dealer whom Vincent gave his paintings to in return for money.
In order to meet artists, van Gogh moved to Brussels, but in the long run he became neither happy nor successful there, and so he moved back home to his parents. At home he fell in love with one of his cousins, but his love remained unrequited and caused a family quarrel, as a result of which he moved out again. After a few years in the Netherlands, van Gogh moved to his brother Theo in Paris in 1886. During this time he turned to impressionism. He experimented with lighter colours and began to try out different painting techniques. After two years in Paris, van Gogh was to move to Marseilles to work as a substitute for Theo, but he got stuck in Arles. There van Gogh wanted to create the "Studio of the South", a place where artists could live and work together. Only Paul Gauguin accepted his invitation. After only two months, their living together ended with a quarrel, as a result of which van Gogh cut off a large part of his left ear. The injury was so severe that he was found unconscious the next day due to the high blood loss.
Obviously mentally stricken, van Gogh subsequently had himself admitted to a mental hospital, but he could not be helped there either. After a few months van Gogh made a first possible suicide attempt when he tried to swallow poisonous paint. During this time Theo submitted some of van Gogh's paintings to a renowned art exhibition. The reactions were extremely positive. For the first time in his life van Gogh received artistic recognition. But the success scared him off rather than pleased him. He left the mental institution and moved to Auvers. After two brief visits to Theo, each of which ended in an argument, and another failed love affair with his doctor's daughter, van Gogh shot himself in the chest with a pistol on 27 July 1890 in the open air. Despite the serious injury he returned to his inn and died two days later in the presence of his brother. Why van Gogh committed suicide is still not clear today. There is a lot of speculation about the motive for his death. Some claim that he did not want to be a burden on Theo, who in the meantime had to look after his own family, and even hoped that his death would cause an increase in the price of his paintings. Other theories say that the attempt was merely a cry for help without any real intent to kill.