Vincent Van Gogh is a world-renowned artist who impacted the evolution of art with his easily recognizable impressionism and expressionist style.
Vincent Van Gogh is from the southern region of the Netherlands growing up as a pastor’s son and was influenced by his uncle who was an art dealer. He began working as an apprentice for his uncle’s art dealer business in London from 1873 to 1875. After being rejected by a girl in London, it is said he went out on a solitary life. He worked in ministry and theology and began traveling around doing missionary work.
He gave away his belongings and lived among the poor, and was dismissed by church authorities, which caused him to lose his faith. This is what led him to draw and discover his passion for creating art around 1880.
He studied drawing at the Brussels Academy, then moved back to his father’s and began painting and drawing in nature. He mostly painted three types of subjects: figure, landscapes, and still life. He began to develop his style of impressionist painting with some Japanese print influence.
Van Gogh’s art career was only a decade long from 1880 to 1890. He was in and out of mental institutions and is known for cutting off his ear, although that story is debated that it may have been cut off during a scuffle and he is said to have taken the blame later. His works are world-known in the post-impressionism movement.
Here are his top 5 masterpieces:
1- Starry Night
Starry Night is a world-recognized piece that can be found recreated on coffee mugs, clothes, towels, etc. This masterpiece was created by Van Gogh when he was in a mental hospital. When he painted Starry Night, they had given him a studio to create in and he appeared to be getting better. Starry Night features darker colors and a nightscape, reflecting the period of time when Van Gogh’s work was said to start depicting darker tonal. The piece is very dreamlike with intentional swirling brushstrokes depicting a starscape from Van Gogh’s imagination.
2- Sunflowers
Van Gogh’s Sunflowers is also widely recognized and recreated by future artists. Sunflowers is actually a series he did that all depict still-life paintings of vases of sunflowers and all clearly identifiable as Van Gogh works. This series displays simplistic beauty and all use vibrant yellow colors he used from new pigments of colors.
>Learn more about Van Gogh Sunflowers
3- Cafe Terrace At Night
Van Gogh painted Cafe Terrace At Night in 1888 by setting up his easel on Place du Forum and painting an impressionist style piece of the dimly lit cafe terrace. Currently, this piece is on display at the Kröller-Müller Museum in the Netherlands. He never signed this painting, but there are historical letters where he talks about the piece.
>Learn more about Cafe Terrace At Night
4- At Eternity’s Gate
This piece was created in 1890, which is the same year that Van Gogh took his own life. The art piece, At Eternity’s Gate, is an expressionism piece said to depict how Van Gogh was most likely feeling. It is believed that he had schizophrenia, epilepsy, or both. This oil painting is of a war veteran holding his head crouched down crying in a chair. Two months later, Van Gogh’s health declined and he is believed to have taken his own life. The title is suggested that even though his depression and mental breakdown, he still believes has faith in God and eternity.
5- Almond Blossom
This is a happier piece by Van Gogh that he painted when he learned his brother and brother’s wife were naming their baby boy after him. The lighter colors are happy and uplifting. The almond blossoms represented hope, good things, beauty, and optimism. He gave the piece to his brother as a gift and this is said to be the most sentimental piece of the Van Gogh family. It was created with oil in 1890 when the almond trees were clooming in France.
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