Vincent Van Gogh Painter

Gender: Male
Citizenship: Netherlands
Born: Mar 30, 1853
Died: Jul 29, 1890

Vincent Willem van Gogh was a Post-Impressionist painter of Dutch origin whose work—notable for its rough beauty, emotional honesty, and bold color—had a far-reaching influence on 20th-century art. After years of painful anxiety and frequent bouts of mental illness, he died aged 37 from a gunshot wound, generally accepted to be self-inflicted.

He began to draw as a child, and he continued to draw throughout the years that led up to his decision to become an artist. He did not begin painting until his late twenties, completing many of his best-known works during the last two years of his life. In just over a decade, he produced more than 2,100 artworks, consisting of 860 oil paintings and more than 1,300 watercolors, drawings, sketches, and prints. His work included self portraits, landscapes, still lifes, portraits as well as paintings of cypresses, wheat fields and sunflowers.

He spent his early adulthood working for a firm of art dealers, traveling between The Hague, London, and Paris, after which he taught for a time in England at Isleworth and Ramsgate.

An artist needn't be a clergyman or a churchwarden, but he certainly must have a warm heart for his fellow men. men

The way to know life is to love many things. love

When I have a terrible need of - shall I say the word - religion. Then I go out and paint the stars. nature & religion

As we advance in life it becomes more and more difficult, but in fighting the difficulties the inmost strength of the heart is developed. life & strength

I put my heart and my soul into my work, and have lost my mind in the process. work

There may be a great fire in our hearts, yet no one ever comes to warm himself at it, and the passers-by see only a wisp of smoke. great

I am still far from being what I want to be, but with God's help I shall succeed. faith & God

If you hear a voice within you say 'you cannot paint,' then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced. art

If one is master of one thing and understands one thing well, one has at the same time, insight into and understanding of many things. time

Those Dutchmen had hardly any imagination or fantasy, but their good taste and their scientific knowledge of composition were enormous. imagination & knowledge

I feel that there is nothing more truly artistic than to love people. love

What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything? courage

Great things are done by a series of small things brought together. great

The more I think about it, the more I realize there is nothing more artistic than to love others. love

A good picture is equivalent to a good deed. good

If boyhood and youth are but vanity, must it not be our ambition to become men? men

Painting is a faith, and it imposes the duty to disregard public opinion. faith

Do not quench your inspiration and your imagination do not become the slave of your model. imagination

Poetry surrounds us everywhere, but putting it on paper is, alas, not so easy as looking at it. poetry

One must work and dare if one really wants to live. work

But I always think that the best way to know God is to love many things. best & God

Even the knowledge of my own fallibility cannot keep me from making mistakes. Only when I fall do I get up again. knowledge

The best way to know God is to love many things. best & God