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Vincent van Gogh is born
in Zundert, Netherlands. Picture of Van Gogh at approximately age 13. -
Period: to
Life and work of Vincent Van Gogh
Dutch post impressionist painter -
Van Gogh begins his apprenticeship with Goupil & Cie in The Hague.
The third largest city in the Netherlands. -
Van Gogh enrolls in Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts in Brussels.
Where he studies anatomy and the standard rules of modeling and perspective. -
Van Gogh begins his first notable painting, The Potato Eaters.
Van Gogh said this about the painting: "You see, I really have wanted to make it so that people get the idea that these folk, who are eating their potatoes by the light of their little lamp, have tilled the earth themselves with these hands they are putting in the dish, and so it speaks of manual labour and — that they have thus honestly earned their food. I wanted it to give the idea of a wholly different way of life from ours — civilized people..." -
Van Gogh travels to Paris and discovers the French Impressionists
After seeing the work of several other artists he admired from this movement Van Gogh adopted a brighter palette and bolder movements in his own work, as can be seen in The Courtesan, painted in 1887. This painting was based on one of many Japanese ukiyo-e woodblock prints Van Gogh collected. -
Van Gogh moves to Arles
Van Gogh arrives in Arles, ill and looking for refuge. But he is immediately taken by the light and landscape and produces several of his most famous works, including The Cafe Terrace on the Place du Forum. Oil painted on canvas, 1888. -
Van Gogh, begins to show signs of serious mental illness. He cuts off the lower part of his left ear lobe.
This happened after an argument with his friend and fellow artist, Paul Gauguin. Gauguin arrived in Arles in late October and they had been painting together. Tension between the two quickly mounted. In November Gauguin painted Van Gogh's portrait, The Painter of Sunflowers: Portrait of Vincent van Gogh. -
Van Gogh commits himself to a mental hospital at Saint-Paul-de-Mausole.
Some of his work from this time can be characterized by swirls. This includes what is arguably his most famous painting, The Starry Night, painted in June 1889. -
Van Gogh moves to Auvers-sur-Oise, outside Paris
Here Van Gogh is closer to his brother, Theo and Dr. Gachet. Gachet was a French physician who had previously treated several artists and was an amateur artist himself. Van Gogh painted several portraits of the doctor, including this one in June of 1890. Portrait of Dr. Gachet. -
At the age of 37 Van Gogh shoots himself in the chest with a revolver. Two days later he dies at the Ravoux Inn, in Auvers-sur-Oise.
Having suffered from mental illness throughtout his life, the episodes became more pronounced in his last few years. Van Gogh was often unable to paint during these episodes, which frustrated him tremendously. His brother Theo was at his side when he died and said Van Gogh's final works were: "La tristesse durera toujours". This translates to the sadness will last forever. This painting was done a few days before the painter took his own life. It is titled At Eternity's Gate.
