1.
Vincent van Gogh
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Vincent Willem van Gogh was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who is among the most famous and influential figures in the history of Western art. In just over a decade he created about 2,100 artworks, including around 860 oil paintings and his suicide at 37 followed years of mental illness and poverty. Born into a family, Van Gogh drew as a child and was serious, quiet. As a young man he worked as an art dealer, often travelling and he turned to religion, and spent time as a Protestant missionary in southern Belgium. He drifted in ill health and solitude before taking up painting in 1881 and his younger brother Theo supported him financially, and the two kept up a long correspondence by letter. His early works, mostly still lifes and depictions of peasant labourers, in 1886 he moved to Paris, where he met members of the avant-garde, including Émile Bernard and Paul Gauguin, who were reacting against the Impressionist sensibility. As his work developed he created a new approach to still lifes and his paintings grew brighter in colour as he developed a style that became fully realised during his stay in Arles in the south of France in 1888. During this period he broadened his subject matter to include trees, cypresses, wheat fields. Van Gogh suffered from episodes and delusions and though he worried about his mental stability, he often neglected his physical health, did not eat properly. His friendship with Gauguin ended after a confrontation with a razor and he spent time in psychiatric hospitals, including a period at Saint-Rémy. After he discharged himself and moved to the Auberge Ravoux in Auvers-sur-Oise near Paris and his depression continued and on 27 July 1890, Van Gogh shot himself in the chest with a revolver. He died from his injuries two days later, Van Gogh was unsuccessful during his lifetime, and was considered a madman and a failure. He became famous after his suicide, and exists in the imagination as the quintessential misunderstood genius. His reputation began to grow in the early 20th century as elements of his style came to be incorporated by the Fauves. The most comprehensive source on Van Gogh is the correspondence between him and his younger brother, Theo. Their lifelong friendship, and most of what is known of Vincents thoughts, Theo van Gogh was an art dealer and provided his brother with financial and emotional support, and access to influential people on the contemporary art scene. Theo kept all of Vincents letters to him, Vincent kept few of the letters he received, after both had died, Theos widow Johanna arranged for the publication of some of their letters. A few appeared in 1906 and 1913, the majority were published in 1914, Vincents letters are eloquent and expressive and have been described as having a diary-like intimacy, and read in parts like autobiography
2.
Van Gogh Museum
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The Van Gogh Museum is an art museum dedicated to the works of Vincent van Gogh and his contemporaries in Amsterdam in the Netherlands. It is located at the Museum Square in the borough Amsterdam South, close to the Stedelijk Museum, the Rijksmuseum, the museum opened on 2 June 1973. It is located in buildings designed by Gerrit Rietveld and Kisho Kurokawa, the museums collection is the largest collection of Van Goghs paintings and drawings in the world. In 2015, the museum had 1.9 million visitors, and was the 2nd most visited museum in the Netherlands, upon Vincent van Goghs death in 1890, his work not sold fell into the possession of his brother Theo. Theo died six months after Vincent, leaving the work in the possession of his widow, selling many of Vincents paintings with the ambition of spreading knowledge of his artwork, Johanna maintained a private collection of his works. Design for a Van Gogh Museum was commissioned by the Dutch government in 1963 to Dutch architect, Rietveld died a year later, and the building was not completed until 1973, when the museum opened its doors. In 1998 and 1999, the building was renovated by the Dutch architect Martien van Goor, starting in late 2012, the museum was closed for renovations for six months. During this period,75 works from the collection were shown in the Hermitage Amsterdam, on 9 September 2013, the museum unveiled a long-lost Van Gogh painting that spent years in a Norwegian attic believed to be by another painter. It is the first full-size canvas by him discovered since 1928, sunset at Montmajour depicts trees, bushes and sky, painted with Van Goghs familiar thick brush strokes. It can be dated to the day it was painted because he described it in a letter to his brother, Theo. In 1991, twenty paintings were stolen from the museum, among them Van Goghs early painting The Potato Eaters, although the thieves escaped from the building,35 minutes later all stolen paintings were recovered from an abandoned car. Three paintings – Wheatfield with Crows, Still Life with Bible, four men, including two museum guards, were convicted for the theft and given six or seven-year sentences. It is considered to be the largest art theft in the Netherlands since the Second World War, in 2002, two paintings were stolen from the museum, Congregation Leaving the Reformed Church in Nuenen and View of the Sea at Scheveningen. Two Dutchmen were convicted for the theft to four-and-a-half-year sentences, the museum offered a reward of €100,000 for information leading to the recovery of the paintings. The FBI Art Crime Team listed the robbery on their Top Ten Art Crimes list, in September 2016, both paintings were discovered by the Guardia di Finanza in Naples, Italy. The two artworks were found in a good state, according to the Van Gogh Museum. The museum is situated at the Museumplein in Amsterdam-Zuid, on the Paulus Potterstraat 7, the museum consists of two buildings, the Rietveld building, designed by Gerrit Rietveld, and the Kurokawa wing, designed by Kisho Kurokawa. The museum offices are housed on Stadhouderskade 55 in Amsterdam-Zuid, the Rietveld building is the main structure of the museum and exhibits the permanent collection
3.
Amsterdam
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Amsterdam is the capital and most populous municipality of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Its status as the capital is mandated by the Constitution of the Netherlands, although it is not the seat of the government, which is The Hague. Amsterdam has a population of 851,373 within the city proper,1,351,587 in the urban area, the city is located in the province of North Holland in the west of the country. The metropolitan area comprises much of the part of the Randstad, one of the larger conurbations in Europe. Amsterdams name derives from Amstelredamme, indicative of the citys origin around a dam in the river Amstel, during that time, the city was the leading centre for finance and diamonds. In the 19th and 20th centuries the city expanded, and many new neighborhoods and suburbs were planned, the 17th-century canals of Amsterdam and the 19–20th century Defence Line of Amsterdam are on the UNESCO World Heritage List. As the commercial capital of the Netherlands and one of the top financial centres in Europe, Amsterdam is considered a world city by the Globalization. The city is also the capital of the Netherlands. Many large Dutch institutions have their headquarters there, and seven of the worlds 500 largest companies, including Philips and ING, are based in the city. In 2012, Amsterdam was ranked the second best city to live in by the Economist Intelligence Unit and 12th globally on quality of living for environment, the city was ranked 3rd in innovation by Australian innovation agency 2thinknow in their Innovation Cities Index 2009. The Amsterdam seaport to this day remains the second in the country, famous Amsterdam residents include the diarist Anne Frank, artists Rembrandt van Rijn and Vincent van Gogh, and philosopher Baruch Spinoza. The Amsterdam Stock Exchange, the oldest stock exchange in the world, is located in the city center. After the floods of 1170 and 1173, locals near the river Amstel built a bridge over the river, the earliest recorded use of that name is in a document dated October 27,1275, which exempted inhabitants of the village from paying bridge tolls to Count Floris V. This allowed the inhabitants of the village of Aemstelredamme to travel freely through the County of Holland, paying no tolls at bridges, locks, the certificate describes the inhabitants as homines manentes apud Amestelledamme. By 1327, the name had developed into Aemsterdam, Amsterdam is much younger than Dutch cities such as Nijmegen, Rotterdam, and Utrecht. In October 2008, historical geographer Chris de Bont suggested that the land around Amsterdam was being reclaimed as early as the late 10th century. This does not necessarily mean there was already a settlement then, since reclamation of land may not have been for farming—it may have been for peat. Amsterdam was granted city rights in either 1300 or 1306, from the 14th century on, Amsterdam flourished, largely from trade with the Hanseatic League
4.
Auvers-sur-Oise
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Auvers-sur-Oise is a commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located 27.2 km from the centre of Paris and it is associated with several famous artists, the most prominent being Vincent van Gogh. Daubignys house is now a museum where one can see paintings by the artist, his family, if you walk along the river from Auvers toward Pontoise you can see a number of views which figured in the paintings of Pissarro. During the 20th century artists continued to frequent Auvers, including Henri Rousseau, Otto Freundlich, the COBRA artist Corneille spent his last years in the village and is buried a few meters from Vincent van Gogh. On 1 August 1948, 17% of the territory of Auvers-sur-Oise was detached, Dr. Paul Gachet lived in Auvers-sur-Oise. He was acquainted with the artists of the time. Through this connection, Vincent van Gogh moved to Auvers to be treated by him, Gachet befriended Van Gogh and was the subject of two portraits, one of which, Portrait of Dr. Gachet, was sold at auction for over $80m in 1990. Van Gogh died by a gunshot to the chest, the room on the upper floor of the Auberge Ravoux where he died has been preserved, although no furniture remains. Auvers-sur-Oise is the resting place of both Vincent and his brother Theo van Gogh, who died six months later. Auvers-sur-Oise in art Auvers-sur-Oise is served by two stations on the Transilien Paris – Nord suburban rail line, Chaponval and Auvers-sur-Oise. Communes of the Val-dOise department Auvers during the time of Vincent van Gogh INSEE Association of Mayors of the Val d’Oise Official website The Complete Works of Vincent van Gogh
5.
Vincent van Gogh chronology
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This is a chronology of the artist Vincent van Gogh. It is based as far as possible on Van Goghs correspondence, however, it has only been possible to construct the chronology by drawing on additional sources. Most of his letters are not dated, and it was only in 1973 that a sufficient dating was established by Jan Hulsker, subsequently revised by Ronald Pickvance and marginally corrected by others. Many other relevant dates in the chronology derive from the biographies of his brother Theo, his uncle and godfather Cent, his friends Émile Bernard and Paul Gauguin, facts and dates which are undisputed, remain unreferenced. Theodorus van Gogh, since 1849 pastore in Groot-Zundert, married Anna Cornelia Carbentus, his brother Cents sister-in-law, March 30, a first son, called Vincent, died at birth. March 30, Vincent Willem van Gogh is born in Groot-Zundert, February 17, sister Anna Cornelia van Gogh, called Anna, is born. May 1, brother Theodorus van Gogh, called Theo, is born, may 16, sister Elisabeth Huberta van Gogh, called Lies, is born. March 26, Uncle Cent becomes partner of Goupil & Cie. March 16, sister Willemina Jacoba van Gogh, October 1, in Zevenbergen to attend the school of Jan Provily. September 3, enters secondary school at Tilburg, may 17, brother Cornelis Vincent van Gogh, called Cor, is born. March, leaves Tilburg and returns to his family in Zundert, July 30, Vincent starts apprenticeship with Goupil & Cie, The Hague. January, Van Goghs family moves to Helvoirt, January 1, Theo starts apprenticeship with Goupil & Cie, Brussels. February 19, the lot to serve in the army has fallen on Vincent, may 12, Vincent leaves for Paris where he visits the Paris branches of Goupil & Cie, the annual Salon and the Musée du Luxembourg. A week later, takes up work at the London branch of Goupil & Cie, August, moves to the house of Ursula Loyer and her daughter Eugenie in Brixton,87 Hackford Road. June 27 - July 15, summer holiday with his family in Helvoirt, November, on the demand of Uncle Cent, Vincent is transferred to Paris to get acquainted with the headquarters of Goupil & Cie. November 26, Jet Carbentus, a cousin of Vincent, marries Anton Mauve, Christmas, with his family in Helvoirt. May 24, Goupils London opens its first exhibition, end of May, Vincent is re-transferred to Paris headquarters. October 18, Van Goghs family moves to Etten, Christmas, with his family in Etten. December 30, visits Uncle C. M. in the Hague to talk about his future, December 31, father thinks he has to advise Vincent to resign
6.
The Letters of Vincent van Gogh
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The Letters of Vincent van Gogh refers to a collection of 903 surviving letters written or received by Vincent van Gogh. More than 650 of these were from Vincent to his brother Theo, the collection also includes letters van Gogh wrote to his sister Wil and other relatives, as well as between artists such as Paul Gauguin, Anthon van Rappard and Émile Bernard. Vincents sister-in-law and wife to his brother Theo, Johanna van Gogh-Bonger, spent many years after her husbands death in 1891 compiling the letters, by contrast Vincent infrequently kept letters sent him and just 84 have survived, of which 39 were from Theo. Nevertheless, it is to these letters between the brothers that we owe much of what we know today about Vincent van Gogh, indeed, the only period where we are relatively uninformed is the Parisian period when they shared an apartment and had no need to correspond. The letters effectively play much the role in shedding light on the art of the period as those between the de Goncourt brothers did for literature. Within two years both brothers were dead, Vincent as the result of a wound, and Theo from illness. Joanna began the task of completing the collection, which was published in full in January 1914 and that first edition consisted of three volumes, and was followed in 1952–1954 by a four-volume edition that included additional letters. Jan Hulsker suggested, in 1987, that the letters be organized in date order, the project consists of a complete annotated collection of letters written by and to Vincent. In the last days of December 1901, running through January 1902, Bruno Cassirer and his cousin Paul Cassirer organized the first van Gogh exhibition in Berlin, Germany. Paul Cassirer first established a market for van Gogh, and then, with the assistance of Johanna van Gogh-Bonger, in 1906 Bruno Cassirer published a small volume of selected letters of Vincents to Theo, translated into German. Of the 844 surviving letters that van Gogh wrote,663 were written to Theo,9 to Theo, of the letters Vincent received from Theo, only 39 survive. The first letter was written when Vincent was 19 and begins, at that time Vincent was not yet developed as a letter writer – he was factual, but not introspective. When he moved to London, and later to Paris, he began to add personal information. Beginning in 1888 and ending a year later, van Gogh wrote 22 letters to Émile Bernard in which the tone is different from those to Theo, in these letters van Gogh wrote more about his techniques, his use of color, and his theories. Van Gogh was a reader, and his letters reflect his literary pursuits as well as a uniquely authentic literary style. His writing style in the letters reflect the literature he read and valued, Balzac, historians such as Michelet, additionally he read novels written by George Eliot, Charlotte Brontë, Charles Dickens, Keats poetry, reading mostly at night when the light was too poor for painting. Gauguin told him that he read too much, poet W. H. Auden wrote about the letters, there is scarcely one letter by van Gogh which I. do not find fascinating. Pomerans believes the letters to be on the level of world literature based on style, in the letters Vincent reflects different facets of his personality and he adopts a tone specific to his circumstances
7.
Death of Vincent van Gogh
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Van Gogh was shot in the stomach, either by himself or by others, and died two days later. In 1889, Vincent van Gogh experienced a deterioration in his mental health, as a result of incidents in Arles leading to a public petition, he was committed to a hospital. His condition improved and he was ready to be discharged by March 1889, at Salles suggestion van Gogh chose an asylum in nearby Saint-Rémy. Theo originally resisted this choice, even suggesting that Vincent rejoin Paul Gauguin in Pont Aven, Vincent entered the asylum in early May 1889. His mental condition remained stable for a while and he was able to work en plein air, producing many of his most iconic paintings, such as Starry Night, at this time. However at the end of July, following a trip to Arles and he made a good recovery, only to suffer another relapse in late December 1889, and early the following January an acute relapse while delivering a portrait of Madame Ginoux to her in Arles. This last relapse, described by Jan Hulsker as his longest and saddest, lasted until March 1890. In May 1890 Vincent was discharged from the asylum, and after spending a few days with Theo and Jo in Paris, Vincent went to live in Auvers-sur-Oise, a commune north of Paris popular with artists. Shortly before leaving Saint-Rémy, Van Gogh told how he was suffering from his stay in the hospital, I need some air, I feel overwhelmed by boredom and grief. On arriving at Auvers, van Goghs health was not very good. Writing on 21 May to Theo he comments, I can do nothing about my illness, I am suffering a little just now — the thing is that after that long seclusion the days seem like weeks to me. But by 25 May, the artist was able to report to his parents that his health had improved and his letters to his sister Wilhelmina on 5 June and to Theo and his wife Jo on about 10 June indicate a continued improvement, his nightmares almost having disappeared. The other patients society had a bad influence on me, furthermore, an unsent letter to Paul Gauguin which van Gogh wrote around 17 June is quite positive about his plans for the future. After describing his recent colourful wheat studies, he explains, I would like to paint some portraits against a very vivid yet tranquil background. On 2 July, writing to his brother, van Gogh comments, I myself am also trying to do as well as I can, and if my disease returns, you would forgive me. I still love art and life very much, the first sign of new problems was revealed in a letter van Gogh wrote to Theo on 10 July. He first states, I am very well, I am working hard, have painted four studies, first of all, he is sicker than I am, I think, or shall we say just as much, so thats that. Certainly my last attack, which was terrible, was in a large measure due to the influence of the other patients, later in the letter he adds, For myself, I can only say at the moment that I think we all need rest — I feel exhausted
8.
Post-Impressionism
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Post-Impressionism is a predominantly French art movement that developed roughly between 1886 and 1905, from the last Impressionist exhibition to the birth of Fauvism. Post-Impressionism emerged as a reaction against Impressionists concern for the depiction of light. The movement was led by Paul Cézanne, Paul Gauguin, Vincent van Gogh, the term Post-Impressionism was first used by art critic Roger Fry in 1906. Three weeks later, Roger Fry used the term again when he organized the 1910 exhibition, Manet, the Post-Impressionists were dissatisfied with what they felt was the triviality of subject matter and the loss of structure in Impressionist paintings, though they did not agree on the way forward. Georges Seurat and his followers concerned themselves with Pointillism, the use of tiny dots of colour. Paul Cézanne set out to restore a sense of order and structure to painting, to make of Impressionism something solid and durable and he achieved this by reducing objects to their basic shapes while retaining the saturated colours of Impressionism. The Impressionist Camille Pissarro experimented with Neo-Impressionist ideas between the mid-1880s and the early 1890s, Vincent van Gogh used colour and vibrant swirling brush strokes to convey his feelings and his state of mind. Although they often exhibited together, Post-Impressionist artists were not in agreement concerning a cohesive movement, yet, the abstract concerns of harmony and structural arrangement, in the work of all these artists, took precedence over naturalism. Artists such as Seurat adopted a scientific approach to colour. Younger painters during the early 20th century worked in geographically disparate regions and in various categories, such as Fauvism and Cubism. Most of the artists in Frys exhibition were younger than the Impressionists, Fry later explained, For purposes of convenience, it was necessary to give these artists a name, and I chose, as being the vaguest and most non-committal, the name of Post-Impressionism. This merely stated their position in time relatively to the Impressionist movement, john Rewald limited the scope to the years between 1886 and 1892 in his pioneering publication on Post-Impressionism, From Van Gogh to Gauguin. This volume would extend the period covered to other artistic movements derived from Impressionism, though confined to the late 19th, Rewald focused on such outstanding early Post-Impressionists active in France as van Gogh, Gauguin, Seurat, and Redon. Pont-Aven School, implying more than that the artists involved had been working for a while in Pont-Aven or elsewhere in Brittany. Symbolism, a highly welcomed by vanguard critics in 1891. Rewald wrote that the term Post-Impressionism is not a precise one. Convenient, when the term is by definition limited to French visual arts derived from Impressionism since 1886, rewalds approach to historical data was narrative rather than analytic, and beyond this point he believed it would be sufficient to let the sources speak for themselves. Rival terms like Modernism or Symbolism were never as easy to handle, for they covered literature, architecture and other arts as well, Symbolism, however, is considered to be a concept which emerged a century later in France, and implied an individual approach
9.
Auberge Ravoux
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The Auberge Ravoux is a French historic landmark located in the heart of the village of Auvers-sur-Oise. It is known as the House of Van Gogh because the Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh spent the last 70 days of his life as a lodger at the auberge. During his stay at Auvers, Van Gogh created more than 80 paintings and 64 sketches before shooting himself in the chest on 27 July 1890, the auberge has been restored and is now a museum and tourist attraction. The room where Van Gogh lived and died has been restored, the auberge was built in the mid-nineteenth century as a family home on the main road leading to Pontoise. Various parts of buildings were incorporated into the auberge – including an entire eighteenth-century wall. The auberge was ideally situated in front of the Town Hall, the daughter of Mr Levert, the original owner, put the centrality of the location to use by opening a retail wine business. During Van Gogh’s stay, the rooms were all occupied by Dutch, the Spaniard artist Nicolás Martínez de Valdivieso, who lived nearby, took his meals at the auberge with Van Gogh. Van Gogh arrived in Auvers-sur-Oise on 20 May 1890 and he had spent a year in a convalescent home in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence and wanted to settle in the North, closer to Paris. Camille Pissarro, a friend of Van Goghs, suggested that he go to Auvers-sur-Oise where Dr Gachet lived, Dr Gachet had treated mental patients before and was interested in and sympathetic to the arts. The doctor was immortalized in a portrait Van Gogh made of him in June of that year, which fetched a record price of $82.5 million in 1990. Upon arrival in Auvers, Van Gogh decided to stay at the Auberge Ravoux, mainly because it was cheaper than the proposed by Dr. Gachet. At the Auberge Ravoux, Vincent paid 3 francs 50 a day, half board, and rented room 5, an attic room measuring 75 square feet and containing only a bed, a dressing table. He stored his paintings and drawings in a shed at the back and he became acquainted with Arthur Ravoux and his family and painted a portrait of Adeline Ravoux, the eldest daughter of Ravoux, on more than one occasion. Van Gogh was charmed by the village and in a letter to his brother Theo van Gogh praised its old thatched roofs and colours and he found the juxtaposition between the rustic country life and recent modern additions such as the railway and the bridge on the River Oise fascinating. He was in health, covering large distances with his painting gear. Despite his love of his new surroundings and his activity, on the morning of 27 July 1890, Van Gogh walked into a field. The bullet was deflected by a rib and lodged in his stomach and he survived the impact and managed to walk back to the auberge. Adeline Ravoux later recalled, Vincent walked bent, holding his stomach, crossed the hall, took the staircase and climbed to his bedroom
