VINCENT VAN GOGH: Life, Works & Painting Style | Great Artists simply Explained in 3 minutes!

Vincent van Gogh was a Dutch painter and draftsman and had an enormous influence on the art of the 20th century, but did not find widespread recognition until after his death. His works are classified as Post-Impressionism. The Dutchman was born in 1853 in a small Dutch community called Zundert, and died in 1890 in Auvers-sur-Oise, France, at the age of only 37, from injuries sustained from a gunshot wound that he suspected was self-inflicted. Having previously considered several other professions, van Gogh decided to become a painter in 1880 and enrolled in several art academies over the next few years. In early 1888, van Gogh moved to Arles, where he created a full 187 paintings in 16 months. The artist was able to gain wider publicity for the first time at the end of 1898, after his brother submitted three of his paintings to renowned exhibitions. Only a few months earlier, he moved to a mental institution in Saint-Paul. He suffered for much of his life from a mental illness that sometimes enhanced, sometimes hindered his artistic imagination. Although van Gogh's painting style was quick and spontaneous, he did not make any major corrections after the fact. He always tried to give the pictures more liveliness and intensity through his dynamic painting style. Almost always he painted directly in front of the motif and not from memory. He often reshaped this motif clearly, but was never too abstract, but much more turned to reality.