Life of Vincent Van Gogh - World of Biography

LIFE

Birth And Family

Man is known, not just for the way he lives, but more for what he leaves behind him. This is particularly true for Vincent Van Gogh, the man who lived one of the most tragic personal life and still, he is remembered for the wonderful legacy he has left in form of his paintings.

Vincent was the first surviving son of a local Protestant pastor. He was born in a small Dutch village of Groot Zundert, near the Belgian frontier on March 30, 1853, exactly a year after his mother had given birth to a stillborn baby boy, christened by the same name of Vincent William.

Theodorous van Gogh, Vincent’s father, had a somewhat stormy relationship with his son regarding his indifference to the church and his passion to become a painter. Anna van Gogh, Vincent’s mother had passed her enthusiasm for art to her son at an early age and was always supportive to his work. The daughter of a bookbinder, she was also related to painters and art dealers. She too painted watercolors before marriage.

Vincent did not have a particularly close relationship with his younger siblings except his brother Theo, who was there for him during his difficult years. Of Vincent’s three sisters, he was closest by far to Wilhelmina. Unfortunately, Wil also shared the same mental problems as her brother. A few years after Vincent and Theo’s death, she too was institutionalized. She died in the asylum at the age of 79.

Anna unfortunately did not share the same bond with her elder brother and their relationship was estranged. They never reconciled their differences. Same was the case with Elizabeth, Vincent’s middle sister. Cornelius van Gogh was the youngest of the Van Gogh children. He suffered a bad marriage and was killed in action in the Boer War. However there are rumors that he may have committed suicide.

Childhood

Vincent was a so-called replacement child, who grew up with a constant reminder of his own mortality, having to see the grave stone buried next to their house with his name and birth date inscribed on it. It could be the influence of that grave, always in front of his eyes, or some other reason, but Vincent never grew up as most other normal children would. He lived either in a state of ecstasy or depression, always on the crest or the trough. These qualities were certainly the major factor for not allowing him to mix with other children of his age. He grew up as a isolated child. One thing he enjoyed was taking long lonely walks in the fields.

Rarely playing with his younger brothers and sisters and keeping himself away from them, he and his siblings were almost strangers to each other, amazingly, the strangers, who shared the same womb.

He lived in his village Zundert untill he left it for the Jean Provily school at Zevenbergen, at the age of eleven. His parents sent him there in anticipation of a positive change in his attitide towards people and society in general. But the comparative dense population of the town made him more unsocial. He sank himself in the vast ocean of philosophical, theological and existential literature, which took him farther from people. As far as the lessons at the school were concerned, he did not do well.

Vincent began drawing when he was at the school. He made a series of paintings during the school years, including one to present his father on his birthday.

A couple of years later, in 1866, Vincent moved to another school at Tilburg. But change of place was in no way helpful to change his uncommon and abnormal disposition. His parents were worried for this reason. Ultimately he returned to Zundert in 1968 at the age of 15. Once again he was back to his old way of living-- going for a walk, reading and staying in isolation, with the only difference of an added activity, painting.

The Shaping Years

After staying for over a year in his village, he left for Hague, as an assistant to the manager of a branch of the Paris art dealers Goupil & co. He stayed there for four years from 1869 to 1873, which were relatively peaceful and good days of his life. His boss Mr. Tersteeg appreciated his work, which took the worry away from his parent's mind. He was transferred to the London branch in 1873. He stayed in London for two years at a boarding house kept by some Mrs Loyer. He shared the place with three German yuoung men, and enjoyed his stay at London. There he was attracted to the landlady's daughter Ursula. In a way which could be expected from him, Vincent, very reluctantly proposed her, which was turned down by Ursula for the reason that she was already engaged.

Owing to his transfer, he left for Paris in May 1875. But his association with the company was not to last long. The company he was working with dealt in pictures, which he found to be an organized fraud, and he said so to his employers. In response, he got a dismissal.

At a crucial juncture of the life, at the age when he could contribute something to the world, Vincent was once again hit by the cruelty of life. He was denied for love, he was out of job and away from family. Depression took over him once again. Just while he was losing all hopes, he saw a new dawn. In reply to one of the advertisements, he sent his application and consequently managed to get the work as junior master in a boarding-school at Ramsgate.

His new job was to teach languages to the pupils, and collect the fees. Once again he experienced peace in his life, as he stayed at Ramsgate. He enjoyed walking by the side of sea with his pupils. He was asked to collect fees from the poor student's parents. Going to the slums where they lived, his heart got full of sorr0w and he would not ask for the fees, he neglected the very task he originally set out for. In a way he failed in his task as he could not collect the fees.

Vincent left the job for which his sympathy with the poor made him incompetent, and instead became assistant-preacher to a clergyman. But speaking was not his cup-of-tea. He could not continue with that longer and moved through a series of frustrating experiences in every area of life. He tried his hand on anything that came to his way, but somehow this man was not meant for a so called normal life of a common man. He was now in his orbit, moving ahead for one of the most vulnerable and tragic life. He had jumped in a life that was full of blows and uncertainity. But in the midst of the terrible blows, he had one corner of univrse which supported him and sheltered him--his younger brother Theo.

Theo and Jo Van Gogh, Vincent’s Towers of Support

Theo was Vincent’s devoted younger brother. Throughout his life Vincent received support from Theo van Gogh. He used to send money and art supplies to his brother in Arles and gave him constant encouragement. He was by Vincent’s side on his deathbed. He died six months after Vincent’s death leaving behind a widow and a baby boy, also named Vincent. Recent evidence has suggested that Theo, like Vincent may have contracted syphilis. He had checked himself into a sanatorium shortly after that.

Vincent Van Gogh However close, they were different characters. The two years that Vincent spent in Paris had a tremendous impact on his evolution as an artist. But now the time had come for him to leave this great city. There were tensions between the brothers, which had now reached its peak. Theo felt that Vincent despised him and he himself exasperated Vincent. The two brothers were an antithesis to each other. While Theo was the orderly one, Vincent was sloppier. Theo had also written to their sister Wil, expressing his feelings about the differences between the two brothers. He had said that Vincent tended to make life difficult for not only himself, but for others as well.

It was through Vincent’s friend Andries Bonger, Jo’s brother, that Theo met his future wife. They were close friends and they eventually shared lodgings in Paris. She too was a great supporter of her brother-in-law’s work. The world is greatly indebted to Jo. After her husband’s death, Jo tirelessly sought to preserve and honor the great works of Vincent. It was due to her efforts that the correspondence between the two brothers was brought to life and throws a better light on the traumas that Vincent went through in life. As the demand for Vincent’s work grew after his death, Jo ensured that all the works in her possession stayed together and weren’t scattered in sales to private dealers all over the world. This faith has ensured that Vincent’s life and works will never be forgotten and also it was Jo’s efforts and faith that led to the formation of the Van Gogh Foundation.