Wheat Field with Cypresses, by Vincent van Gogh (1889, oil on canvas, 73.2 × 93.4 cm).

Millions of people around the world today are ready to travel across continents in order to see original Van Gogh’s paintings. I am a happy one of them: I have done this more than once. Luckily, Van Gogh became appreciated quite soon after his death, so most of his works have been found, restored, and are kept with proper care.

I have been looking through Van Gogh’s paintings, and decided to share a few lines about this amazing man. I believe, these facts about Van Gogh’s life will be new and interesting to you-

His life began with a strange decision made by his parents: they gave him the same name as they had given to their previous child. It appears that Vincent had an older brother who died at birth. His name was also Vincent.

Then, according to a common tradition, Van Gogh was supposed to follow in his father’s footsteps and become a pastor. Luckily, he was strong enough to choose his own way in life. Here is a photo of young Vincent.

Van Gogh did not start drawing in early childhood, like many famous artists did. He was 27 years old when he painted his first piece. Before that, he had been failing as an art dealer and engaging in missionary work. He was mostly self-taught and he started out by painting dark and sad depictions of peasants. Only later he started drawing light and life-welcoming pictures, like First Steps, after Millet (1890, oil on canvas, 72.4 x 91.1 cm)

In late 1885, interested in honing his skills as a figure painter, Van Gogh left the Netherlands to study at the Antwerp Academy in Belgium. Three months later, he departed for Paris, where he lived with his brother Theo, an art dealer with the firm of Boussod, Valadon et Cie, and for a time attended classes at Fernand Cormon’s studio. Van Gogh’s style underwent a major transformation during his two-year stay in Paris (February 1886–February 1888). There he saw the work of the Impressionists first-hand and also witnessed the latest innovations by the Neo-Impressionists Georges Seurat and Paul Signac. His  Self-Portrait with a Straw Hat is a good illustration of the Impressionists’ influence on his work.

Between 1886 and 1889 he painted over 30 self-portraits. Was he trying to understand himself this way or was his own face just the handiest object to draw? We will never know.

In May 1889, fearing a new breakdown, Van Gogh voluntarily entered the asylum at Saint-Rémy, where, over the course of the next year, he painted some 150 canvases.

(Corridor in the Asylum. Vincent van Gogh , September 1889. Oil color and essence over black chalk on pink laid (“Ingres”) paper. Dimensions: 65.1 x 49.1cm. The Met Museum)

In the time frame of only 10 years, he created nearly 900 paintings! A number of them are now considered the greatest works of art ever created.

Everyone knows that during his lifetime Van Gogh sold only one painting, this one:

(The red vineyard (Arles. November, 1888), By Vincent van Gogh (1853 – 1890), oil on canvas; 75 x 93 cm, © The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow, Russia)

He painted Portrait of Dr. Gachet in 1890.  In May 1990, the portrait was sold for $148.6 million dollars. As funny as it may sound, neither the artist, nor Dr.Gachet could ever imagine such a pile of money.

(Vincent van Gogh, “Docteur Paul Gachet, 1890, private collection)