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.
Theo van Gogh (art dealer)
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Theodorus Theo van Gogh was a Dutch art dealer. He was the brother of Vincent van Gogh, and Theos unfailing financial and emotional support allowed his brother to devote himself entirely to painting. Theo died at the age of 33, six months after his brother died at the age of 37, Theodorus Theo van Gogh was born on 1 May 1857 in the village Groot-Zundert in the province of North Brabant, Netherlands. He was the son of Theodorus van Gogh and Anna Cornelia Carbentus and his elder brother was Vincent van Gogh, who later became a famous painter. Theo worked for years at the Dutch office of the Parisian art dealers Goupil & Cie in The Hague. Theo joined the Brussels office on 1 January 1873 as their youngest employee, after Theo was transferred to the London office, he moved to the office in The Hague, where he developed into a successful art dealer. By 1884, he was transferred to the Paris main office, starting in the winter of 1880–1881, he sent painting materials as well as monthly financial support to his brother and painter Vincent van Gogh, who was living back in the Netherlands. In Paris, Theo met Andries Bonger and his sister Johanna and he married Johanna in Amsterdam on 17 April 1889 and they moved to Paris. Their son Vincent Willem was born in Paris on 31 January 1890, on 8 June, the family visited Vincent, who was living near Paris in Auvers-sur-Oise. Vincent died in July 1890 at age 37, Theo suffered from dementia paralytica, an infection of the brain, and his health declined rapidly after Vincents death. Weak and unable to come to terms with Vincents absence, he died six months later at age 33 in Den Dolder, Theo admired his elder brother Vincent for his whole life. But communicating with him proved to be difficult, even before Vincent opted to follow his artistic vocation, the communication between both brothers suffered from diverging definitions of standards, and it was evidently Theo who kept on writing letters. Therefore, mostly Vincents answers survived and few of Theos, Theo was often concerned about Vincents mental condition and he was amongst the few who understood his brother. It is known that Theo helped Vincent to maintain his artist lifestyle by giving him money and he also helped Vincent pursue his life as an artist through his unwavering emotional support and love. The majority of Theo’s letters and communications with Vincent are filled with praise, Vincent would send Theo sketches and ideas for paintings, along with accounts of his day to day experiences, to the delight and eager attention of Theo. Theo was instrumental in the popularity of Impressionist artists such as Claude Monet and Edgar Degas by persuading his employers, Goupil & Cie, to exhibit and buy their works. In 1886, Theo invited Vincent to come and live with him in Paris, the two brothers maintained an intensive correspondence, with Theo often encouraging his depressed brother. Theo was one of the few people who Vincent could talk to, over three-quarters of the more than 800 letters Vincent wrote during his life were to Theo, including his first and his last letters
6.
Johanna van Gogh-Bonger
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Johanna Gezina Jo van Gogh-Bonger was the wife of Theo van Gogh, art dealer, and the sister-in-law of the painter Vincent van Gogh and key player in the growth of Vincents fame. Johanna Gezina Bonger was born on 4 October 1862 in Amsterdam in the Netherlands and she was the fifth of seven children, the daughter of an insurance broker. The family was musical, holding evening performances of quartets, and she stayed some months in London, working in the library of the British Museum. From the age of seventeen she kept a diary, which was to become a source of much information about Vincent van Gogh. At this time she came under the influence of the non-conformist writer Multatuli. At the age of twenty-two she became a teacher of English at a school for girls at Elburg. About this time while in Amsterdam she was introduced by her brother Andries to Theo van Gogh, one of the Van Gogh sisters described her as smart and tender. Theo became preoccupied with Johanna, and the following year paid a visit to Amsterdam to declare his love, surprised and annoyed that a man she hardly knew should wish to marry her, she rejected him. However, she accepted his proposal the following year, and they were married in Amsterdam on 17 April 1889 and their son Vincent Willem, was born on 31 January 1890. Following Theos death in January 1891, Johanna was left a widow with her infant son to support and she was left with only an apartment in Paris filled with a few items of furniture and about 200 then valueless works of her brother-in-law Vincent. She had not kept her diary during her marriage, but resumed it, to earn extra income she translated short stories from French and English into Dutch. In 1905, to the evident disapproval of her family, she was one of the members of a womens socialist movement. It is schoolgirlish twaddle, nothing more, in August 1901, she married Johan Cohen Gosschalk, a Dutch painter who was born in Amsterdam. She was widowed again in 1912, in 1914, she moved Theos body from Utrecht to Auvers-sur-Oise and interred it next to Vincents grave. A sprig of ivy taken from the garden of Dr Paul Gachet carpets both graves to this day, after the death of Vincent and her husband, she worked assiduously on editing the brothers correspondence, producing the first volume in Dutch in 1914. She also played a key role in the growth of Vincents fame and she wrote a Van Gogh family history as well. Johanna van Gogh stayed in contact with Vincent van Goghs friend Eugène Boch to whom she offered the portrait of Eugene Boch in July 1891. She also stayed in touch with Émile Bernard, who helped her to promote Vincent van Goghs paintings, the legacy and renown of Vincent van Gogh the long-suffering artist began to spread in the years after his death, first in the Netherlands, and Germany and then throughout Europe
7.
International Standard Book Number
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The International Standard Book Number is a unique numeric commercial book identifier. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an e-book, a paperback and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, the method of assigning an ISBN is nation-based and varies from country to country, often depending on how large the publishing industry is within a country. The initial ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 based upon the 9-digit Standard Book Numbering created in 1966, the 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108. Occasionally, a book may appear without a printed ISBN if it is printed privately or the author does not follow the usual ISBN procedure, however, this can be rectified later. Another identifier, the International Standard Serial Number, identifies periodical publications such as magazines, the ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 in the United Kingdom by David Whitaker and in 1968 in the US by Emery Koltay. The 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108, the United Kingdom continued to use the 9-digit SBN code until 1974. The ISO on-line facility only refers back to 1978, an SBN may be converted to an ISBN by prefixing the digit 0. For example, the edition of Mr. J. G. Reeder Returns, published by Hodder in 1965, has SBN340013818 -340 indicating the publisher,01381 their serial number. This can be converted to ISBN 0-340-01381-8, the check digit does not need to be re-calculated, since 1 January 2007, ISBNs have contained 13 digits, a format that is compatible with Bookland European Article Number EAN-13s. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an ebook, a paperback, and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, a 13-digit ISBN can be separated into its parts, and when this is done it is customary to separate the parts with hyphens or spaces. Separating the parts of a 10-digit ISBN is also done with either hyphens or spaces, figuring out how to correctly separate a given ISBN number is complicated, because most of the parts do not use a fixed number of digits. ISBN issuance is country-specific, in that ISBNs are issued by the ISBN registration agency that is responsible for country or territory regardless of the publication language. Some ISBN registration agencies are based in national libraries or within ministries of culture, in other cases, the ISBN registration service is provided by organisations such as bibliographic data providers that are not government funded. In Canada, ISBNs are issued at no cost with the purpose of encouraging Canadian culture. In the United Kingdom, United States, and some countries, where the service is provided by non-government-funded organisations. Australia, ISBNs are issued by the library services agency Thorpe-Bowker
