Leo Martínez
Vincent van Gogh, born in 1853 in the Netherlands, is considered one of the greatest Dutch painters of all time, alongside Rembrandt van Rijn. Before he decided to become an artist at the age of twenty-seven, van Gogh pursued various vocations, including art dealer, language teacher, lay preacher, bookseller, and missionary worker. Van Gogh's artistic career lasted only ten years, from 1880 to 1890, during which he created a vivid personal style, known for its striking colour, emphatic brushwork, and contoured forms. He learned to paint through zealously copying prints and studying nineteenth-century drawing manuals and lesson books, such as Charles Bargue's Cours de dessin and Exercises au fusain. He also took painting and drawing lessons with his uncle, the artist Anton Mauve, who taught him the basics of painting in watercolour and oils. Van Gogh's style was influenced by his admiration for artists such as Jean-François Millet and Camille Corot, as well as his interest in Impressionism and Pointillism, which he encountered during his time in Paris.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| How Van Gogh learned to paint | Van Gogh was largely self-taught, copying prints and studying nineteenth-century drawing manuals and lesson books, such as Charles Bargue's Exercises au fusain and Cours de dessin. |
| Where Van Gogh learned to paint | Van Gogh took painting lessons in The Hague from his cousin by marriage, the artist Anton Mauve. He also studied in Brussels for about a year in 1881 and later travelled to Antwerp and Paris to develop his skills. |
| How Van Gogh developed his style | Van Gogh was influenced by Impressionism and Pointillism, lightening his palette and experimenting with broken brushstrokes. He also studied the works of Jean-François Millet, Rembrandt, Frans Hals, and other Dutch Masters. |
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What You'll Learn
Van Gogh's early education in art
Vincent van Gogh's artistic career lasted only a decade, from 1880 to 1890. Before that, he pursued various occupations, including art dealer, language teacher, lay preacher, bookseller, and missionary worker.
In 1881, Van Gogh moved in with his parents in Etten, North Brabant, where he made studies of some of the town's residents. In January 1882, he went to The Hague, where he studied painting with his cousin-in-law, the celebrated artist Anton Mauve, who taught him the basics of painting in watercolour and oils. Van Gogh visited his studio almost every day and set up his own studio with Mauve's funding. However, the two fell out a month later, possibly over the viability of drawing from plaster casts.
Van Gogh continued to educate himself in art by zealously copying prints and studying nineteenth-century drawing manuals and lesson books, such as Charles Bargue's Exercises au fusain. He believed it was necessary to master black and white before working with colour, and so he first concentrated on learning figure drawing and rendering landscapes in the correct perspective. He also took inspiration from the Barbizon artists, particularly Jean-François Millet, whose work influenced his decision to paint rural life.
In November 1885, Van Gogh travelled to Antwerp and later Paris to learn and develop his skills. During his two-year stay in Paris (February 1886–February 1888), he saw the work of the Impressionists first-hand and witnessed the latest innovations by the Neo-Impressionists Georges Seurat and Paul Signac. He lightened his palette and experimented with the broken brushstrokes of the Impressionists and the pointillist touch of the Neo-Impressionists.
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Learning from Impressionists and Neo-Impressionists
Vincent van Gogh, considered one of the greatest Post-Impressionists, had a short artistic career, lasting only from 1880 to 1890. He began drawing seriously in 1880, and in 1881, he took painting lessons in The Hague from his relative, the artist Anton Mauve, who taught him the basics of painting in watercolour and oils.
In 1886, Van Gogh moved to Paris to join his brother, Theo, an art dealer. It was here that he was introduced to the Impressionist movement, which originated in France and lasted from 1867 to 1886. Through his brother, Van Gogh socialised with many artists of the Impressionist movement, including Camille Pissarro and Edgar Degas. During this period, Van Gogh learned to paint in the Impressionist style, adopting short, quick brushstrokes and a colourful palette.
However, Van Gogh's style soon evolved beyond Impressionism, and he developed a unique, Post-Impressionist aesthetic. Post-Impressionism emerged in the early 1900s as artists began to respond to Impressionism by exploring pointillism methods, feeling that the potential of Impressionism had been exhausted. Post-Impressionists took aspects of Impressionism and exaggerated them, pushing the movement in new directions. Van Gogh's work is characterised by bold, swirly colours, inspired by nature, and he used colour to represent an intense visual world, creating a truly individual style.
Van Gogh was also influenced by the Neo-Impressionist movement. In a letter to his sister, Willemien, in June 1888, Van Gogh acknowledged the influence of contemporary Neo-Impressionist art on his work, noting that it had made him think about the colours he was using.
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Studying under Anton Mauve
Vincent van Gogh had various occupations before he became a painter, including art dealer, language teacher, lay preacher, bookseller, and missionary worker. Daily contact with works of art during his time working for Goupil in London and Paris aroused his artistic sensibility. He formed a taste for Rembrandt, Frans Hals, and other Dutch masters, and took a particular liking to the contemporary French painters Jean-François Millet and Camille Corot.
In 1880, van Gogh decided that his mission would be to bring consolation to humanity through art. He took painting and drawing lessons with his uncle, the celebrated Hague School artist Anton Mauve, in The Hague. Van Gogh felt that his drawing technique was not yet good enough, so he practised "fanatically". Mauve taught him the basics of painting in watercolour and oils, and van Gogh visited his studio almost every day. At the end of 1881, van Gogh spent three weeks at Mauve's studio, making his first experiments in painting under Mauve's tutelage, first in oils and then, early the next year, in watercolour. During this time, van Gogh also received technical advice from well-known Hague School artists like Weissenbruch and Blommers, and from painters like De Bock and van der Weele, both of the Hague School's second generation.
Mauve lent van Gogh money to rent and furnish a studio, but their relationship soon soured. By late January 1882, the two had fallen out, possibly over the viability of drawing from plaster casts. Van Gogh could only afford to hire people from the street as models, a practice of which Mauve disapproved. In a letter to his brother Theo, van Gogh described "a very regrettable conversation" in which Mauve told him that their association was over, citing van Gogh's vicious character and his relationship with the pregnant prostitute Sien Hoornik as reasons for the falling out. Despite their disagreement, van Gogh continued to hold Mauve in very high esteem and dedicated one of his most iconic paintings to Mauve's memory after hearing of his sudden death in 1888.
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Influences from Jean-François Millet
Vincent van Gogh was deeply influenced by the French artist Jean-François Millet, whose work he encountered early in his artistic career. Millet was a painter and etcher of the Barbizon school, and his career spanned from the early to mid-1800s. During this period, he produced about 700 paintings and 3,000 pastels and drawings.
Millet's modest background had a significant influence on his work. Growing up in a peasant family, he once said, "I was born a peasant and shall die a peasant," and his works are a nostalgic tribute to farmers and labourers. Millet made peasants the focus of his art, painting them respectfully, which was a novel approach at the time. Van Gogh, who also identified with the peasant class, recognised himself in Millet's life story and art. He admired Millet's simple background and pride in his roots, and this strengthened his resolve to paint peasant life, just like Millet.
Van Gogh studied Millet's artworks closely and drew countless studies of peasants working the land, even making exact copies of Millet's work. He particularly focused on Millet's famous painting "The Sower," which he copied many times. Van Gogh was fascinated by the figure of the sower, who is inextricably linked to the cycle of life and death. In his letters, Van Gogh referred to Millet as his "father Millet... counsellor and mentor in everything for young artists."
Van Gogh's paintings of harvest scenes and sowers in Arles show Millet's influence. However, by this time, Van Gogh had developed his own style and was able to give his unique twist to Millet's themes. The influence of Millet's rural labourers can be seen in Van Gogh's use of bright palettes and short, broken brushstrokes. Van Gogh's paintings of flowers are also filled with symbolism, reflecting his own spiritual beliefs rather than traditional Christian iconography.
Millet's works provided Van Gogh with a sense of sanctuary as he struggled with personal demons, and their influence remained with him until the end of his life.
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Support from his brother, Theo
Vincent van Gogh's brother, Theo van Gogh, was a Dutch art dealer and the younger brother of Vincent. He played a crucial role in introducing contemporary French art to the public and owned almost all of Vincent's artwork. Theo supported Vincent financially, allowing him to devote himself entirely to painting. He also provided his brother with emotional support and love, as well as advice and guidance in pursuing a career in art.
Theo and Vincent van Gogh shared a close relationship as brothers. They shared an attic bedroom as children, and Theo admired his older brother, who told him about nature. They built a sand fort together in the garden. When Vincent left the family home to attend boarding school, the brothers kept in touch by letter and saw each other during the holidays. As Theo got older, he began working for Goupil & Cie in Brussels, while Vincent worked for the same company in London and later Paris.
Theo supported Vincent financially so he could focus on his art. He gave Vincent money from time to time, even when Vincent no longer had a paying job. In 1886, Theo invited Vincent to live with him in Paris, and they shared an apartment in Montmartre for two years. During this time, Vincent painted the view from their apartment on Rue Lepic. Theo introduced Vincent to artists such as Paul Gauguin and encouraged him to take classes in the studio of popular artist Fernand Cormon.
Theo advised Vincent to focus on his drawing, and Vincent moved to Brussels in 1880 to work on his drawing techniques. In 1883, Vincent moved back in with his parents in Nuenen, where he continued to practice drawing and paint rural life. Theo became a manager of the art firm Goupil & Cie and continued to support Vincent financially. He also introduced Vincent to the works of Adolphe Monticelli, whose portrait at the Galerie Delareybarette inspired Vincent to adopt a brighter palette and bolder attack in his paintings.
Theo's support of Vincent's artistic ambitions and well-being was instrumental in Vincent's development as an artist. Theo's widow, Johanna van Gogh-Bonger, also played a crucial role in promoting Vincent's work and securing his posthumous recognition as one of the greatest artists of all time.
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Frequently asked questions
Van Gogh was largely self-taught. He gained his footing as an artist by copying prints and studying nineteenth-century drawing manuals and lesson books, such as Charles Bargue's *Exercises au fusain* and *Cours de dessin*. He also took painting and drawing lessons with his uncle, the artist Anton Mauve, in The Hague.
Van Gogh took painting lessons in The Hague from his cousin-in-law Anton Mauve. He also studied in Brussels for about a year in 1881, and later in Antwerp and Paris.
Van Gogh decided to become an artist at the age of twenty-seven in 1880. Over the course of his decade-long career (1880-1890), he produced nearly 900 paintings and more than 1,100 works on paper.
