7 facts about Vincent Van Gogh - an artist who sold only one of his paintings during his lifetime

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

On December 23, 1888, the now world famous post-impressionist artist Vincent Van Gogh lost his ear. There are several versions of what happened, however, Van Gogh's whole life was full of absurd and very strange facts.

Van Gogh wanted to follow in his father's footsteps - to become a preacher

Van Gogh dreamed of becoming, like his father, a priest. He even completed a compulsory missionary training in an evangelical school. He lived for about a year in the outback among the miners.

But it turned out that the rules for admission have changed, and the Dutch have to pay tuition fees. Missionary Van Gogh took offense and after that decided to leave religion and become an artist. However, his choice was not accidental. Vincent's uncle was a partner of the then largest art dealer company "Gupil".

Van Gogh began to paint only at the age of 27

Van Gogh began to draw in adulthood, when he was 27 years old. Contrary to popular belief, he was not such a "genius dilettante" like the conductor Pirosmani or the customs officer Russo. By that time, Vincent Van Gogh was an experienced art dealer and entered first at the Academy of Arts in Brussels, and later at the Antwerp Academy of Arts. True, he studied there for only three months, until he left for Paris, where he became acquainted with the Impressionists, including Claude Monet.

Van Gogh began with "peasant" painting like "The Potato Eaters". But his brother Theo, who knew a lot about art and supported Vincent financially throughout his life, managed to convince him that "light painting" was created for success, and the public will definitely appreciate it.

The artist's palette has a medical explanation

The abundance of yellow spots of different shades in the paintings of Vincent Van Gogh, according to scientists, has a medical explanation. There is a version that such a vision of the world is caused by a large number of epilepsy drugs consumed by him. Attacks of this disease appeared in him in the last years of his life due to hard work, a riotous lifestyle and the abuse of absinthe.

The most expensive painting by Van Gogh was in Goering's collection

For more than 10 years, Winesnt Van Gogh's painting "The Portrait of Dr. Gachet" held the title of the most expensive painting in the world. Japanese businessman Ryoey Saito, owner of a large paper company, bought this painting at Christie's in 1990 for $ 82 million. The owner of the painting indicated in his will that the painting should be cremated with him after his death. In 1996, Ryoey Saito died. It is known for certain that the painting was not burned, but where exactly it is now is unknown. It is believed that the artist painted 2 versions of the picture.

However, this is just one fact from the history of "Portrait of Dr. Gachet". It is known that after the exhibition "Degenerate Art" in Munich in 1938, this painting was acquired for his collection by the Nazi Goering. True, he soon sold it to a certain Dutch collector, and then the painting ended up in the United States, where it was until Saito acquired it.

Van Gogh is one of the most abducted artists

In December 2013, the FBI published the top 10 high-profile thefts of genius art with the aim of helping the public to assist in solving crimes. The most valuable on this list are 2 paintings by Van Gogh - "View of the sea at Schevingen" and "Church in Nyunen", which are estimated at $ 30 million each. Both of these paintings were stolen in 2002 from the Vincent Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. It is known that two men were arrested as suspects in the theft, but it was not possible to prove their guilt.

In 2013, Vincent Van Gogh's painting "Poppies" was stolen from the Museum of Muhammad Mahmoud Khalil in Egypt due to the negligence of the leadership, which is estimated by experts at $ 50 million. The painting has not yet been returned.

Van Gogh's ear could have been cut off by Gauguin

The story of the ear raises doubts among many biographers of Vincent Van Gogh. The fact is that if the artist cut off his ear at the root, he would die from blood loss. Only the earlobe was cut off from the artist. There is a record of this in the preserved medical report.

There is a version that the incident with the cut off ear occurred during the quarrel between Van Gogh and Gauguin. Gauguin, experienced in sailor fights, slashed Van Gogh in the ear, and he had a seizure from stress. Later, trying to whitewash himself, Gauguin came up with a story about how Van Gogh chased him in a fit of madness with a razor and crippled himself.

Unknown paintings by Van Gogh are still found today

This fall, the Vincent Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam identified a new painting belonging to the great master. The painting "Sunset at Montmajour", according to the researchers, was painted by Van Gogh in 1888. An exceptional find is made by the fact that the canvas belongs to the period that art critics consider the pinnacle of the artist's work. The discovery was made using methods such as comparison of style, colors, techniques, computer analysis of the canvas, X-ray photographs and the study of Van Gogh's letters.

The painting "Sunset at Montmajour" is currently on display at the artist's museum in Amsterdam in the exhibition "Van Gogh at Work".