Vincent Willem van Gogh

was born on 30 march 1853 in Groot-Zundert, Netherlands. Van Gogh was given the name of his grandfather and a brother stillborn exactly a year before his birth.

In July 1869, Van Gogh’s uncle Cent obtained a position for him at the art dealers Goupil & Cie in the Hague. After completing his training in 1873, he was transferred to Goupil’s London branch on Southampton Street, and took lodgings at 87 Hackford Road, Stockwell.

His father and uncle arranged a transfer to Paris in 1875, where he became resentfull of issues such as the degree to which the firm commodified art, he was dismissed a year later. In april 1876, he returned to England to take unpaid work as a supply teacher in a small boarding school in Ramsgate.

On 27 July 1890, aged 37, Van Gogh is believed to have shot himself in the chest with a revolver. There were no witnesses and he died 30 hours after the incident. The shooting may have taken place in the wheat field in which he had been painting, or in a local barn. He was able to walk back to the Auberge Ravoux, where he was attended to by two doctors, but without a surgeon present the bullet could not be removed. The doctors tended to him as well as they could, then left him alone in his room, smoking his pipe. The following morning, Theo rushed to his brother's side, finding him in good spirits. But within hours Vincent's health began to fail, suffering from an untreated infection resulting from the wound. He died in the early hours of 29 July.

«Irises»

I liked «Irises» because it is different than other paintings of Van Gogh. It has better quality than other paintings of Van Gogh and Japanese style of painting.

Facts about «Irises»:
«Irises» held the record for the most expensive artwork 1987 when it sold for $53.9 million USD, which would be around $100 million in the current economy.
«Irises» Is the most popular painting of Van Gogh.
The painting was among nearly 130 artworks Van Gogh completed during his stay in a mental institution at Saint-Remi the year prior to his death.
"Irises" was the first painting Van Gogh started after arriving at the asylum. The flowers were growing in a garden in the small outdoor area where the artist was allowed to stroll and sit.

«Sunflowers»

Van Gogh created 11 «Sunflowers» paintings
First he created 4 still lifes with plucked sunflowers. He wrote them in Paris in 1887.
Van Gogh painted 4 still lifes in Arles. Two of them are kept in museums in London and Munich.
The other two in the original are not available to anyone. Both paintings were in private collections at the time. One is now in the possession of an unknown collector in the USA.
The other burned down along with its owner's house during World War II in Japan. We know what she looks like only from reproductions and photos.
The best reproduction is kept in a small Japanese museum.

The portrait of the postman Joseph Roulin was painted by Van Gogh in 1888 during the artist's stay in Arles in the south of France.Vincent Van Gogh climbed into this provincial corner of the French Republic in search of new sensations so necessary for creativity, hoping that here, away from big cities, he would work much better. In Arles, the artist gradually made new acquaintances, and even became friends with some "Arlesians". One of Van Gogh's newfound friends was Joseph Roulin, who worked as a postmaster at the railway station in Arles.

«Portrait of the postman Joseph Roulin - Vincent Van Gogh»