Strokes of Brilliance — The Life of Vincent Van Gogh

One of the greatest Post-Impressionists in history

Bohai

Published in

Lessons from History

4 min readNov 29, 2021

Introduction:

Throughout history, few artists have managed to grab the world’s attention through the sheer awe of composition. Among them emerges Vincent van Gogh, a Dutch painter who profoundly influenced the status of modern art. Interestingly, van Gogh is known for his artworks and his status as the “quintessential tortured artist,” which can be attributed to his tragic and unstable life. This article will shed light on the life of van Gogh, his composition principles, and some of his greatest works.

The Life of van Gogh:

Born on March 30, 1853, van Gogh was the eldest child of a pastor. Van Gogh worked in London and Paris through his earlier life until he was fired in 1876 for not showing interest in his work. From there, van Gogh developed a keen interest in Christianity and became a preacher, but it wasn’t long until he abandoned that project. Eventually, in 1880 at the age of 27, van Gogh decided to become an artist.

Unfortunately, van Gogh’s artistic career was extremely short, lasting only a decade after 1880. During the first four years, van Gogh dedicated himself to the study of painting and watercolours, in which he mastered the art of composition and painting. The subsequent six years became van Gogh’s artistic prime, which included a visit to Paris, where he met great artists like Degas, Toulouse-Lautrec, Pissarro and Gauguin. These artists had a significant influence on van Gogh, and it was then he began developing his infamous Post-Impressionist style (luminous landscape, thick brushstrokes, and vivid colour).

1888 proved to be disastrous for van Gogh. Emotionally and physically exhausted, van Gogh quarrels with Gauguin and chases him with a razor, showing his deteriorating mental health. It was then van Gogh gained his status as the “quintessential tortured artist” in which he reportedly cut off his left ear and delivered it to a prostitute. Other theories suggest that van Gogh cut off his ear out of guilt in his fight with Gauguin or even that Gauguin had cut off van Gogh’s ear with a sword. Nevertheless, van Gogh’s mental health and artistic career were near the end; he was hospitalized and eventually shot himself a year later, leading to his ultimate death.

Van Gogh’s Artistic Style:

Before jumping into some of van Gogh’s greatest works, here is a quick overview of his distinctive style and composition principles. For van Gogh, the power to create motivated him in his life, which was evident through his letter with his brother Theo. “Instead of trying to reproduce exactly what I have before my eyes, I use color more arbitrarily so as to express myself forcibly.” Colour, van Gogh argues, “is not locally true from the point of view of the delusive realist, but color suggests some emotion of an ardent temperament.” “I study nature, so as not to do foolish things… however, I don’t care so much whether my color is exactly the same, as long as it looks beautiful on my canvas… the harmony of colors is quite different from following nature mechanically and servilely.”