Vincent Van Gogh

Research Paper # 103045

Art > Artists

Vincent Van Gogh

A biography of the life of Vincent Van Gogh.

2,314 words () | 4 sources | MLA | 2006 United States

Paper Summary:

This paper looks at the life and works of the artist Vincent Van Gogh who was born in 1853 in Holland and died in 1891. It looks at how Vincent Van Gogh was an extraordinary man who led a cursed life and how he constantly struggled with depression. The paper also ponders whether Van Gogh would have made many more masterpieces if he had not been sick or whether it was his mental illness that helped him to create the masterpieces he did.

From the Paper:

"In 1880 Vincent decided he could still be used by God as an artist rather than a clergyman. He wrote: "To try to understand the real significance of what the great artists, the serious masters, tell us in their masterpieces, that leads to God; one man wrote or told it in a book; another, in a picture." He moved to Brussels and considered enrolling at the art academy, but rather chose to study independently. Sometimes he studied with Dutch artist Anthon van Rappard. While Vincent was not earning any money, his brother, Theo, (who was working at Goupil's Paris branch where Vincent was previously employed) sent him money. His brother continued to send him money until Vincent's death.5 "

Sample of Sources Used:

Cutts, Josephine, and James Smith. Essential Van Gogh. China: Parragon Publishing Book, 2002.
Dorn, Roland, George S. Keyes, Joseph Rishel, George Shackelford, Lauren Soth, Judy Sund. Van Gogh Face to Face: The Portraits. New York: Thames & Hudson, 2000.
Van Gogh Museum. www.vangoghmuseum.nl.
Wallace, Robert, The World of Van Gogh. New York: Time-Life Books, 1969.