Vincent Van Gogh, 1853-1890, was born in Zundert, Netherlands.

Van Gogh was a Dutch Post- Impressionist Painter, who is among the most famous and influential figures in the history of Western Art. In just over a decade he produced 2100 artworks including landscapes , still-lifes, portraits and self- portraits. They are characterised by bold colours and dramatic, expressive and impulsive brushwork, that contributed to the foundation of Modern Art. His early works, mostly still-lifes and depiction of peasant labourers contain few signs of the vivid colour that distinguished his later works. His interest in art began at a young age, and his early drawings were expressive, but don’t approach the intensity of his later works. The philosophy of his tutor, Constant Cornelis Huijsmans’s philosophy was to reject technique in favour of capturing the impression of things, particularly nature or common objects. In 1882, Anton Mauve, a successful artist and second cousin of Van Gogh, suggested to him to draw with charcoal and pastels, and he later introduced Van Gogh to paintings in oil. He liked the medium and spread the paint liberally , scraping from the canvas, and working back with the brush. He completed sketches , watercolours, and nearly 200 paintings of weavers and their cottages, and still-lifes during 1883-1886. His palette consisted mainly of sombre earthy tones, particularly dark brown, having no sign of vivid colours. His brother, an art dealer, pointed to him that the paintings were to dark, lacking liveliness and freshness, and were not in keeping with the bright style of Impressionism. So he applied himself to th study of colour theory, and after studying the works of Rubens, he broadened his palette to include: carmine, cobalt blue, and emerald green. He felt his admiration for the quick, economical strokes of the Dutch Master’s. He was interested greatly by Charles Blanc’s Treatise On colour. He came to realise that the effects of colour went beyond the descriptive, colours expresses something in itself,he said. It has a psychological and moral weight,he said. He understood from the treatises that a true painting required optimal use of colour , perspective and brushstrokes. The Sower, Night Cafe, Memory of the Garden in Etten, and The Starry Night, were the Paintings representing the style he sought, based on broad brushstrokes,inventive perspectives, colours, contours and design. He became aware of his faults , lack of experience and technical expertise. He also incorporated elements of the style of Japanese ukiyo-e woodcuts into the background of some of his paintings. While in Paris in 1886, he tried his hand at Japonaiserie, tracing a figure from a reproduction on the cover of a magazine, which he then graphically enlarged in a painting. After seeng the portrait of Adolphe Monticelli, Van Gogh adopted a brighter palette and a bolder attack , particularly in paintings, such as, Seascape at Saintes-Maries, 1888. Van Gogh moved to Paris and joined Fernand Cormon’s studio, and came to learn about well known artists, and came in contact with fellow artists at the studio. Two large exhibitions were held and works of Pointillism and Neo-Impressionism were shown for the first time. Theo kept a stock of Impressionist paintings in his gallery. But Van Gogh was slow to acknowledge the new developments in art. Feeling worn out of the life in Paris he left for Arles in 1888 after two years of stay in Paris and having painted about 200 paintings. The time in Arles was one of his more prolific periods. He was enchanted by the local landscape and light. His works from this period are rich in yellow, ultramarine and mauve. His paintings include harvest, wheat fields, and general rural landmarks from the area like, The Old Mill, 1888. The landscapes though appear flat, lacking perspective, excel in their use of colours. His new found appreciation is seen in the range and scope of his work. The, Flowering Orchards, are among the first group of works completed after his arrival in Arles in February 1888. Though he brought to this a sense of Impressionism, a strong sense of personal style emerged during this period. During the blossoming of of the trees that spring he found a world of motif that could not have been more Japanese. During this period Van Gogh mastered the use of light by subjugating shadows and painting the trees as if they are the source of light — almost in a sacred manner. Van Gogh was enthralled by the landscape and vegetation of the South and all the Orchards are optimistic, joyous and visually expressive of the burgeoning spring. While painting rural life, flowers and nature he tried to capture his belief that a power existed behind the natural things and he tried to put this essence of nature in his art. He made up his own iconography, where life is lived under the sun, and work is an allegory of life, and made his rendition of sower, flowers, filled with symbolism based on his own beliefs. In Arles he gained confidence to paint spring blossom and to learn to capture bright sunlight, and was ready to paint ,The Sower. Van Gogh tried to stay within the guise of reality, and afterwards, said that the abstraction of, The Starry Night, had gone to far, and reality had receded to far in the background. Hughes, describes it as a moment of extreme visionary ecstasy. The movement in the heaven above is reflected by the movement of the Cypresses on the earth below, reminiscent of Hokusai’s Great Wave, and the painter’s vision is is translated into a thick, emphatic plasma of paint. Van Gogh’s stylistic developments are usually linked to the periods linked to the periods he he spent living in different places across Europe, although he maintained a highly individual visual outlook throughout. He was aware of his painterly limitations, so he moved home often, to expose himself to new visual stimuli , and through exposure develop his technical skill, and develop stylistic changes. In Dec1888 he painted portraits that show a shift in style from the fluid, restrained brushstrokes and even surfaces to the frenetic style, rough surfaces broad brushstrokes, and use of palette knife in Madam Roulin with Baby. Van Gogh created 43 self-portraits between 1885-89 . The portraits reflect an unusually high degree of self-scrutiny, and contain a wide array of physiognomical representation. Self-portrait with Grey Felt Hat, is one of his most renowned self-portrait with its highly organised rhythmic brushstrokes and the novel halo derived from the Neo-Impressionist repertoire. Van Gogh’s gaze is seldom directed towasrd the viewer, and the portraits vary in intensity and colour, and after Dec1888, the vivid colours highlight the the haggard pallor of the skin. Van Gogh rented the east wing of the Yellow House at 2 place Lamartine in May 1888, and while waiting for the rooms to be furnished he painted a number of painting Including many of his famous works, for displaying at the gallery. While waiting for Paul Gauguin to come to Arles, Van Gogh began painting Sunflowers, and embarked on the work on the decoration for the Yellow House. with painting, the most ambitious effort he ever undertook. But soon after Gauguin arrived excessive tension developed, and rapidly headed towards crisis point, and Van Gogh, suffered an acute mental breakdown and severed his left ear. He suffered an acute mental breakdown. He spent the following month Hospital and home suffering from hallucinations and delusions. Two months later he left Arles and entered an asylum, in Saint Remy de Provence. During his stay at the asylum till he left for Auvers Van Gogh completed a number of paintings, some made from the window of the asylum, some studies made of the hospital’s interiors, some during the short walks, such as, The Starry Sky, and, Cypresses and , olive Trees with the Alpilles in the Background, and some he made on the interpretations of the works of other artists, such as Millet’s, Courbet’s and Gustave Doré’s. He painted trees in the olive groves, and in these works natural life is rendered as gnarled and arthritic as a personification of the natural world, which are, according to Huges, filled with a continuous field of energy of which nature is a manifestation . After recovering from a severe relapse, he made some small canvases from reminiscences of the North. During these last weeks , of the 70 paintings he painted, several of them were reminiscent of the northern scenes. Van Gogh was immensely absorbed by the immense plains against the hills, boundless as the sea, in delicate Yellow. He was captivated by the wheat. His late paintings were sombre, but optimistic, and reflect his desire return to lucid mental health. Yet some of his final works reflect his deepening concern. And , Wheatfield With Crows, gave expression to vast fields of wheat under turbulent skies, representing his sadness and loneliness. Hulsker describes the work as doom-filled painting with threatening skies with ill-omened crows. It’s dark palette and heavy brushstrokes convey a sense of menace.