The Potato Eaters (1885)
Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam
Dark, earthy peasant family at supper in Nuenen; his first major work
Image: Vincent van Gogh · Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
Art
Vincent van Gogh
1853–1890 · Dutch
Post-Impressionism
Dutch painter who produced around 2,100 artworks in barely a decade, including some 860 oil paintings, most of them in the last two years of his life in France. Almost unknown when he died at 37, he became the archetype of the tortured genius, and his swirling, vividly coloured canvases are among the most famous in the world.
How to spot them
- ▸Thick impasto in swirling, rhythmic brushstrokes
- ▸Intense yellows and blues: sunflowers, wheatfields, starry skies, cypresses
- ▸Provençal scenes around Arles and Saint-Rémy; many self-portraits
- ▸Quiz clues: the ear, brother Theo, the Yellow House, Gauguin, Auvers-sur-Oise
Key works
Sunflowers (series) (1888–1889)
Versions in the National Gallery, London; Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam; and elsewhere
Painted in Arles to decorate the Yellow House for Gauguin's arrival
Image: Vincent van Gogh · Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
Café Terrace at Night (1888)
Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo
Yellow-lit café under a starry blue sky in Arles, with no black paint
Image: Vincent van Gogh · Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
Bedroom in Arles (1888)
First version: Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (others in Art Institute of Chicago and Musée d'Orsay)
His room in the Yellow House, in three versions
Image: Unknown · Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
The Starry Night (1889)
Museum of Modern Art, New York
Swirling night sky and flame-like cypress, painted in the asylum at Saint-Rémy
Image: Vincent van Gogh · Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
Wheatfield with Crows (1890)
Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam
Stormy sky over a wheatfield at Auvers, painted in July 1890, weeks before his death
Image: Vincent van Gogh · Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
Quick-fire facts
- •Cut off part of his left ear in Arles on 23 December 1888 after a quarrel with Gauguin
- •Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear (1889) is in the Courtauld Gallery, London
- •Worked as an art dealer for Goupil & Cie and as a lay preacher before becoming an artist
- •His brother Theo supported him financially; their letters are a key source on his life
- •Voluntarily entered the asylum of Saint-Paul-de-Mausole at Saint-Rémy in 1889
- •Died at Auvers-sur-Oise on 29 July 1890, two days after shooting himself
- •Portrait of Dr Gachet sold for $82.5 million in 1990, then a world record
- •Irises (1889) is in the Getty Center, Los Angeles
Drill it — 10 cards
1 / 10new card
Sources
- Encyclopaedia Britannica — Vincent van Gogh
- Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam — Van Gogh Museum
- The National Gallery, London — Sunflowers