Five interesting facts about Vincent Van Gogh
Born Vincent Willem van Gogh on March 30, 1853 in the village of Groot-Zundert in the southern Netherlands, Van Gogh is arguably the greatest Dutch painter of all time, alongside Rembrandt. Although revered after death and hailed as one of the most influential Post-Impressionist painters of the 20th century, a living Van Gogh, an extravagantly eccentric character, led a hard and difficult life, presenting an incredible dichotomy between his personal beliefs and his public personality. However, his aimless wanderings, his early theological obsession, his romantic life, the accelerated growth of his talent and his beautiful relationship with his brother present a very interesting facet of this imperfect genius.
The Wanderer
Considering the period in which he lived, where neither public nor private transportation were particularly comfortable or affordable (not to mention time consuming), Van Gogh was a notable nomad. Between the age of eleven and his death at 37, he lived in a staggering 37 cities, towns and villages. Although he spent most of his time in The Hague and Paris, he spent most of his adult life traveling and living in England, France, and Belgium.
The theologian
In different circumstances, we probably would have known Van Gogh as a mere preacher, rather than the artist we are all familiar with. Perhaps influenced by his father, a minister in a Dutch Reform church, and by the remarkable empathic nature of artists, Van Gogh made at least five attempts to enter the religious fraternity. His failed attempts to enter the Faculty of Theology at the University of Amsterdam and the Protestant Evangelical Missionary School in Brussels lie between his brief stint as a preacher at a boys’ school in Isleworth and as a missionary in the coal mining town of Borinage.
However, his most spectacular failure was in the small parish of Wasmes. Involved by local authorities as a lay preacher, Van Gogh, in an effort to emulate the impoverished living conditions of his congregation, slept on a makeshift straw mattress in a decrepit hut. He was fired shortly after for tarnishing the reputation of the priesthood.
While working in his uncle’s bookstore in Dordrecht, his roommate once told him that Van Gogh tried unsuccessfully to transliterate the Bible from Latin into English, French, and German.
The lover
Perhaps emblematic of his mental problems (believed to range from schizophrenia to bipolar disorder), his relationships are often seen as a projection of his lack of self-esteem; it is as if the artist’s romantic choices offered a lesser chance of being rejected.
His history with prostitutes, especially Clasina Hoornik (rumored to have borne him a son, Willem) and Rachel from the city of Arles (who received Van Gogh’s severed ear) seems to lend credence to the theory.
His affair with Margo Begemann, ten years his senior, and his cousin, Kee Vos Stricker, seven years his senior and mother of an eight-year-old boy, tends to strengthen the assumption.
There were also silent rumors that Van Gogh was bisexual and that his former psychiatrist, Dr. Paul Gachet (from the famous Potrait of Dr. Gachet), was supposedly one of his lovers. Fellow artist, Paul Gauguin was another thought to be his companion. In fact, Gauguin was the catalyst for the infamous ‘ear cropping’ incident, which witnesses said was fighting with Van Gogh moments before the incident.
The Prodigy
Unlike mere mortals who have to sweat and strain to master their arts, the flamboyantly talented genius Van Gogh began painting seriously in 1880 at the age of 27. His first year at the Academie des Beaux-Arts gave him the necessary foundation and he experimented with abandon thereafter; oil paintings, lithography, memory drawing, Japanese prints, pointillism, colors and much more. With the help of luminaries and contemporaries such as Willem Roelofs, Paul Signac, Emile Bernard, Fernand Cormon, and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Van Gogh’s ability and productivity accelerated at a phenomenal rate. In the ten-year period until his death, he managed to produce more than 900 paintings and 1,100 drawings.
The brother
The importance of Theo Van Gogh to his brother Vincent cannot be understated. Theo not only encouraged Vincent to attend the Academie des Beaux-Arts, but he was also relentlessly loyal and supportive of his brother. It also almost entirely financed the last ten years of Vincent’s life, culminating in Vincent’s depression caused by a suicide attempt on July 27, 1890. Severely injured, Vincent died two days later with Theo by his side. “Sadness lasts forever,” were his last words to his brother Theo. Heartbroken, Theo himself died six months later and was buried alongside his beloved brother. Shortly after his death, a collection of more than 600 letters was made public, correspondence between the two that spanned more than 20 years, and showed the beautiful bond between the two brothers.