Notes:

The Power of Art- Vincent Van Gogh

 Birth Name- Vincent Willem Van Gogh
 Born- March 30, 1853
 Died- July 29, 1890
 He Painted a Picture a day.
 Wheat field with Crows- Said to have started modern art- Also said to be the painting he was working on before his
death.
 Committed Suicide?- (Maybe not according to supplemental video)
 Cut his ear off?- actually sliced off part of his earlobe.
 He thought he was an artist prophet & thinker.
 Wrote LOTS of letters to his dear brother Theo.
 At first he lived the life of the mind & Salvation.
 His father was a pastor.
 When he came of age he was sent to his uncle in London to become an art dealer.
 Later Vincent became a preacher to coal miners.
 After that failed, at 30 he decided to become a painter.
 Vincent dated a prostitute named Sien and attempted to “save” her.
 His family didn’t like it, but Theo kept helping his brother financially.
 Vincent’s parents no longer accepted him because of this.
 The painting: Potato Eaters- was his first masterpiece, but was extremely hard to sell in his lifetime.
 Vincent moved to Paris and found color inspiration.
 He also began to study and copy stayle of the impressionists.
 Became friends with fellow artist – Paul Gaugin
 Van Gogh admired Japanese artwork.
 Wanted to move in with Gaugin to create a “creative nest”- Gaugin decined at first.
 This caused Vincent to paint like a Mad Man.
 Made friends with the Roulin family and painted all of their portraits- they were like his family.
 Gaugin finally decide to move in with Vincent.
 They “butted heads” constantly.
 Vincent had epilepsy, but it was un diagnosed… so back in that time, be just came off as “crazy”.
 He then cut off his ear lobe and gave it to another prostitute.
 This scared Gaugin away from him, so Vincent committed himself to an insane asylum.
 Developed his “style” when he started painting a painting a day under treatment.
 Chose to do work because he thought it would help him overcome his mental illness.
 In 1889 he painted his final self-portrait.
 He ate lead paint! Drank turpentine and absinthe- and this didn’t help his mind at all!
 Dr. Paul Gachet- was the doctor that Theo ended up sending him to for more help.
 Theo named his son after Vincent.
 Vincent was worried about the financial burden he was putting on Theo and his family.
 He died from complications from a single gunshot wound.
 Theo died 1 year after Vincent and they were buried side by side.
 Many artists have found inspiration in Vincent’s work.
 Van Gogh’s dream was fulfilled after his death- For his artwork to be loved by the masses.