Vincent van Gogh

He experienced three failed romantic relationships in his life, namely with Eugenie Loyer, Kee Vos Stricker and Clasina Maria Hoornik. However, none of the women accepted his love for them.

On 27 July 1890, he shot himself on the chest. Luckily the shot did not cost him his life but an untreated wound resulted in his death 29 hours after he shot himself. He was buried on July 30 in the municipal cemetery of Auvers-sur-Oise.

His funeral was attended by Theo van Gogh, Andries Bonger, Charles Laval, Lucien Pissarro, Emile Bernard, Julien Tanguy and Dr. Gachet amongst 20 other family members and friends.

Vincent Willem van Gogh was born on 30 March 1953 as the eldest of the six children of Theodorus van Gogh and Anna Cornelia Carbentus. His father was a minister of the Dutch Reformed Church.

Art and religion as occupation came naturally to the van Gogh family and young Vincent was drawn to drawing since an early age which led him to take up the same as his occupation

Raised in a Catholic area, he attended the Zundert village school, wherein he was taught by a Catholic teacher. For three years from 1861 to 1864, he was home trained by a governess.

Later on, he attended the Jan Provily's boarding school at Zevenbergen, post which he gained admission at Willem II College. he left school in March 1868 to return home.

With the help of his Uncle Cent, he gained a position with an art dealer Goupil & Cie in The Hague. Finishing his training, he was transferred to London in June 1873 where he put up at Brixton and worked at Messrs. Goupil & Co.

His years in London were the most productive years of his early art career. He was happy with his work and the advances of his romantic life. His earnings were also constantly on the rise to the point of surpassing his father’s income.

The good phase did not last long as he faced a period of crisis in his personal life which affected his work. He was yet again transferred to Paris but his work did not bloom in the artistic city where he thought that art was seen more as a commodity than expression of emotions. His period of service with Goupil ended on April 1876.

Returning to England, he spent some time working as an unpaid teacher in a small boarding school in Ramsgate. However, when the school shifted base to Middlesex, he relieved himself off the duties to take up the position of a Methodist minister’s assistant.

During Christmas, he returned home and started working in a bookshop in Dordrecht. However, the work did not interest him much as he spent much of his time doodling.

This well-known and renowned Dutch painter after having been physically and psychologically unstable cut off his ear and offered it to a prostitute.