System Mechanic - Clean, repair, protect, and speed up your PC!Vincent Van Gogh
March 30, 1853 - July 29, 1890
Vincent was born in Groot Zundert, Netherlands on March 30th 1853. Son of Dutch pastor Theodorus Van Gogh, his birth came exactly one year to the very day his mother gave birth to a first, stillborn child ironically also named Vincent. In 1869 Vincent Van Gogh joined Goupil & Company, a firm of art dealers in The Hague. The Van Gogh family had been associated with the art world for a long time; this was because two of Vincent's uncles were art dealers. His younger brother, Theo, worked as an art dealer and eventually had an enormous influence on Vincent's career as an artist.
Vincent was relatively successful as an art dealer. In 1873 he was transferred to the London branch. During his stay, he visited the many art galleries and museums and became a great admirer of British engravers whose works illustrated such magazines as "The Graphic". These illustrations inspired and influenced Van Gogh in his later life. In May of 1875 Van Gogh was transferred to the Paris branch. By then, he was no longer happy dealing in paintings and left Goupil and Company. In March 1876, he decided to return to England, since the two years he spent there had been very happy and rewarding.
In April, Vincent Van Gogh began teaching at Rev. William P. Stokes' school. Where he taught twenty-four boys aged ten to fourteen. He enjoyed teaching so much that he began teaching at another school for boys; one lead by Rev. T. Slade Jones. During his time off, Van Gogh visited many art galleries and admired many great art works. He also devoted himself to Bible study in which he spent many hours reading the Book of God. This was a time of religious transformation for Van Gogh. In 1879, Vincent failed to qualify for the mission school after a three-month trial period. He soon made arrangements with the Church to begin a trial period preaching in one of the most inhospitable regions in Western Europe, the coal-mining district of The Borinage, Belgium. It was that year that, Van Gogh began his duties preaching to the coal miners and their families in the mining village. Van Gogh felt an emotional attachment to the miners. He was sympathetic about their dreadful working conditions and tried to ease their burden. His desire to help would reach a fanatical level when Van Gogh began to give away most of his food and clothing to the poor under his care. Despite his intentions, the Church disapproved of Van Gogh's acts and let him go in July. Refusing to leave the area, Van Gogh moved to an adjacent village, and lived there in poverty. For the next year Van Gogh struggled to live from day to day. Then, one day Van Gogh felt a strong urge to visit the home of Jules Breton, a French painter he greatly admired. With only ten francs in his pocket he walked 70 kilometers to Courrières, France, to see Breton. Upon his arrival, Van Gogh was too timid to knock so he turned around and headed back home. Disappointed and distraught, he began to draw the faces of the miners and their families, penciling in there harsh living and working conditions into a permanent record. It was these drawing that help him on his way to becoming an artist.
On December 23rd 1889, exactly one year to the day after the famed ear-slashing incident, Vincent suffered another attack. The attack was serious and lasted about a week. Fortunately, Vincent recovered reasonably quickly and resumed painting. Sadly, Van Gogh suffered more attacks throughout the early months of 1890. These attacks came more frequently and ironically, during this time when Van Gogh was probably at his lowest mental state, his works were finally beginning to receive critical acclaim. News of this, however, only served to depress Vincent further and renewed his hopes to leave the asylum and return back to the north of France.
On May 16th 1890 Vincent Van Gogh left the asylum and took an overnight train to Paris to meet up with his brother. Vincent stayed with Theo for three days. Never one to enjoy the city life, Vincent felt some stress returning and opted to leave Paris. On June 8th Theo, Jo and the baby came to Auvers to visit Vincent and he passed a very enjoyable day with his family. To all appearances, Vincent appeared quite restored--mentally and physically. Throughout June, Vincent remained in good spirits and was remarkably productive, painting some of his best known works such as Portrait of Doctor Gachet and The Church at Auvers. Vincent life had finally appeared to settle into a productive and happy pattern. On July 27th 1890, Vincent Van Gogh set out, with his easel and painting materials, into the fields. There he took out a revolver and shot himself in the chest. He managed to stagger back to the Ravoux Inn where he collapsed in bed and was then discovered by Ravoux. It was decided not to attempt to remove the bullet in Vincent's chest.
Vincent and Theo remained together for the last hours of Vincent's life. Theo was remained devoted to his brother, holding him and speaking with him in Dutch. Vincent seemed resigned to his fate and Theo later wrote: "He himself wanted to die. When I sat at his bedside and said that we would try to get him better and that we hoped that he would then be spared this kind of despair, he said, "The sadness will last forever."
Vincent Van Gogh died at 1:30 am on 29th of July 1890. The Catholic Church of Auvers refused to allow Vincent's burial in its cemetery because Vincent had committed suicide. The nearby township of Méry, however, agreed to allow the burial and the funeral was held on July 30th.
