Vincent Van Gogh's Accomplishments

Vincent van Gogh, perhaps one of the most iconic artists, is perceived as the “mad” man who painted in a frenzy or simply as the tormented soul who cut off his ear. Often, van Gogh’s artistic genius is diminished by those who view his work as a mere visual manifestation of his unsoundness of mind. Although in some ways that may be true, his innovative and unique style played a key role in paving the way for the artists who followed. Vincent van Gogh’s career was short, but his masterpieces exercised a profound influence on twentieth-century art and overall transformed artistic practices and styles. Van Gogh’s renowned and universally acclaimed works continue to communicate his unique perspective, far beyond his death. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the

(rewrite/ edit) Vincent Willem van Gogh, the eldest of six children, was born March 30, 1853 to the Reverend Theodorus van Gogh and his wife Anna Cornelia in a small town of Holland, near the Belgian border. Within the van Gogh family there were two powerful tensions that ran amongst them- a love of art and the predisposition towards depression- Vincent later inheriting his fair share (Harmon 86). As a child, van Gogh was quiet and self-contained, preferring to spend his free time playing alone, reading, or wandering the countryside observing nature. At the age of sixteen, he began working at his uncle’s prestigious art gallery, Goupil and Company, where he apprenticed to The Hauge branch (Peterson, Pritchard 1). Van Gogh then worked for Goupil in London, from 1873 to May 1875, later transferring to the Paris branch, where he worked unto April 1876. Regular contact with works of art sparked his artistic sensibility, which allowed him to form a taste for Rembrandt, Frans Hals, and other Dutch artists, but also discover his preference for two contemporary French painters, Jean-François Millet and Camille Corot, whose influence would continue