He died in 1890 from a bullet wound and it was only when his brother died, six months after him, that his brother’s wife, Johanna van Gogh-Bonger dedicated her life to collecting his works and promoting it. Sadly, Vincent van Gogh only sold one painting throughout his entire life. Starry Night is something of a culmination of this vista, combining his view on different days and even at different times of the day.Īs he watched both the light and weather change, he combined his view of sunrise, moonrise, sunny days, overcast days, rainy days and even windy days to create the masterpiece so many people know and love today. It is said that while in hospital, he would spend days staring out his barred window at the scenery below and painting. This was where he created his most famous masterpiece “Starry Night”. Having fought many demons during his lifetime, Van Gogh checked himself into an asylum after a fight with a friend that saw him cutting off the lobe of his own ear. Van Gogh was also known to be a firm supporter of Post-Impressionist art, the French movement that was a departure from Impressionism and its concern for natural depiction of light and colour. Later on, he became a fan of the Japanese aesthetic and moved to the south of France, to see “nature under a brighter sky” so that he could better understand the way the Japanese “feel and draw”. When he first started out, he mostly painted in dull colours and used farmers and peasants as subjects, as he couldn’t afford to pay models. He painted through the changes he found himself in, allowing his style to evolve. This is especially impressive considering that most of his artwork was created over the last two years of his life. His diet consisted mostly of bread and coffee, though he was known to drink alcohol excessively and was never seen without a pipe in his hand.ĭespite only being an artist in the last decade of his life, Van Gogh is said to have created around 2,100 works including approximately 900 paintings. Evidence suggests that he faced manic depression, epilepsy, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.ĭespite coming from a middle class family, he spent most of his life in poverty, surviving off cheap food. Van Gogh fought many personal battles throughout his life. With neither success nor fulfilment, he decided to take up painting at 27 with almost no training, announcing that he was an artist to his brother in 1880. Initially, Van Gogh worked at his uncle’s art dealing company and later for the Goupil & Cie Gallery In London.Īt one point, he considered following his father’s footsteps and becoming a minister, and even worked briefly as a school teacher. With these tidbits, you’ll have deeper context about the artist and his work, which will shed light on the paintings you’ll be immersed in when you visit the exhibition with your friends, family or that someone special!īorn on the 30th of March in 1853, Vincent van Gogh was only an artist for the last decade of his life. To learn more about the influential artist, here’s a quick look into the life and work of Vincent van READ MORE: Catch the Immersive ‘Van Gogh Alive’ Exhibition In KL This Dec-March The Van Gogh Alive exhibition hosted at Pavilion Bukit Jalil will run until 16 March 2023.
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