Page 25 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide 2016 - Amsterdam

Van Gogh Museum ❮❮ 23

THE LIFE OF VINCENT VAN GOGH

Born on 30 March 1853 TOP 10
in Zundert, Vincent Van 19TH-CENTURY
Gogh was the eldest son ARTISTS
of a pastor and his wife. 1 Vincent Van Gogh
Aged 16, he joined his (1853–1890)
uncle’s business Goupil 2 Claude Monet
& Co., art dealers. Seven (1840–1926)
years later, displaying 3 Pierre Auguste Renoir
Self-Portrait, increasingly erratic (1841–1919)
Van Gogh behaviour, he was 4 Paul Cézanne
dismissed. After a couple (1839–1906)
of false starts as teacher and evangelist, in 5 Auguste Rodin
1880 he decided to be a painter. From 1883 (1840–1917)
to 1885, he lived with his parents in Nuenen, 6 Edouard Manet
but in 1886 he went to Paris to study in (1832–83)
Fernand Cormon’s studio. He lived with his 7 Edgar Degas
brother Theo, met renowned artists and (1834–1917)
changed his style. In 1888, he moved to Arles 8 J M W Turner
where he dreamed of establishing an artists’ (1775–1851)
colony with Paul Gauguin. Soon after 9 Eugène Delacroix
Gauguin arrived, the friends had a fierce (1798–1863)
argument and, during a psychotic attack, Van
Gogh cut off a piece of his own left ear lobe. 10 Jean-Baptiste
Camille Corot
He enrolled as a voluntary patient in a clinic (1796–1875)
in Saint-Rémy in 1889. The following year, he
left for the rural village Auvers-sur-Oise, The Yellow House
where his state of mind deteriorated and he (1888) was the abode
shot himself in the chest on 27 July 1890. He Van Gogh had hoped to
died, with Theo at his bedside, two days later. share with Gauguin.

022-023_Top_10_Amsterdam.indd 23 09/03/2016 16:05