The brilliant color and exuberant vitality of Dutch Post- Impressionist master Vincent van
Gogh's paintings stand in stark contrast to his tragic, turbulent life. In 1880, after a series of
failed careers, van Gogh decided to become an artist. Lacking the resources for formal training,
he acquired the necessary skills by sketching from books and prints. The artist's earliest
works were scenes of peasant life, inspired by Breton and Millet. In 1886, van Gogh traveled to
Paris where he encountered the works of the Impressionists and the fashionable Japanese
prints that were immensely popular in Parisian avant-garde circles.
The artist's Paris experience marked a dramatic transformation in his style and the
beginning of an extremely productive period. Canvases from this period reflect a radical shift
from the somber-paletted realism of his early works to vibrant expressionism. Inspired by the
beauty of the area's rural landscapes, van Gogh moved to Arles in 1888. The move coincided
with the onset of the artist's struggle with mental illness and, after one particularly severe
episode, he committed himself to an asylum at Saint Remy. While hospitalized, Van Gogh
continued to paint and it was here that one of his most compelling works, "Starry Night," was
completed.
The artist produced over one thousand works during the ten short years he devoted to
painting. He sold only one painting prior to his tragic death, the result of a self-inflicted
gunshot wound.
Van Gogh's powerful compositions and expressive use of color provided a springboard
for the radical departures of the 20th century Fauves and German Expressionists. Near the
end of his life, the artist wrote to his brother Theo: "I paint as a means to make life
bearable....Really, we can speak only through our paintings."
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