An artist who lived through the worst phases, and succumbed to them, but creating masterpieces as he went, Vincent Van Gogh, now widely known as The Father of Expressionism, led his life in darkness.

His paintings feature a wide range of landscapes, places he visited himself, town corners around him, flowers, still lives, and many portraits of friends, family and himself. The most famous ones are The Starry Night, with swirls of blue and white, and multiple dying sunflowers.

Sunflowers. By Vincent van Gogh – National Gallery (NG3863), London, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=151970

The Starry Night, June 1889. By Vincent van Gogh – bgEuwDxel93-Pg at Google Cultural Institute, zoom level maximum, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=25498286

 Though he experimented with many painting styles, right from childhood, he is widely known for his oil on canvas works, and only started painting as an artist in the later years of his life. His early life marks a difficult period for him, unable to secure work or make his name among the notable art circles. But when he painted, it is said that he was painting everywhere, as there are his pieces even in the mental health facility where he stayed. Here, due to lack of subjects, he has painted the interiors. It is also said that the large number of self portraits are due to the fact that he had little connection with others for days on end, and he chose to paint himself instead.

In fact, he was said to have been painting till the very hour he shot himself, though there are multiple theories around his death. He supposedly returned to his place of residence in the town and succumbed two days later, as the bullet wasn’t attempted to be removed from his body. He spent his last hours with his beloved brother, who was his closest companion, and the two have said to have exchanged letters throughout their lives, many of which are now published and serve as an extraordinary insight into the artist’s mind.

According to him, Vincent’s last words were: “The sadness will last forever.”

His brother, too, died a year later.

Van Gogh’s frail mental health throughout his life, with episodic depression, and his episode with severing his left ear after reportedly experiencing auditory hallucinations, makes it easy for many to believe he committed suicide, but some records show his calm state and peace of mind when he was at Auvers-sur-Oise, his last place of residence.

In a decade, he created about 2,100 artworks, including around 860 oil paintings, most of which date from the last two years of his life. His art is a direct reflection of his state, and even the way his appearance changes in his self-portraits is suggestive of a high self-awareness. Van Gogh stayed within what he called the “guise of reality” and was critical of overly stylized works. He wrote afterwards that the abstraction of Starry Night had gone too far, and that reality had “receded too far in the background”. Other pieces are quite plainly suggestive of loneliness, with vast fields and lone workers, though the implementation makes it pleasing.

Sorrowing Old Man (‘At Eternity’s Gate’), 1890. By Vincent van Gogh – scan by user:Mefusbren69, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9517164

The Night Cafe, 1888. By Vincent van Gogh – 1. The Yorck Project (2002) 10.000 Meisterwerke der Malerei (DVD-ROM), distributed by DIRECTMEDIA Publishing GmbH. ISBN: 3936122202.2. Unknown source, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=151915

Vincent and Theo’s graves at Auvers-sur-Oise Cemetery, By Héric SAMSON – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=11940662

Recommended- Loving Vincent, an experimental animated biographical drama film about the life of the painter Vincent van Gogh, and, in particular, about the circumstances of his death. It is the first fully painted animated feature film. The scenes are hand painted by a team of over a hundred artists, all in the style quite plainly the artist’s. An amazing result, though not so well-known, it definitely deserves appreciation. Check it out. http://lovingvincent.com

(Featured image- Self Portrait By Vincent van Gogh – mwF3N6F_RfJ4_w at Google Cultural Institute maximum zoom level, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=21977797)