Vincent van Gogh

1853 – 1890 · died at about 37^[1][2]

Art

Fun Facts About Vincent van Gogh

• Vincent van Gogh walked 80 kilometers (50 miles) to meet the painter Jules Breton, but the high wall around Breton's estate intimidated him and he went home without making his presence known.^[1]
• Van Gogh was named after his grandfather and after a brother who was stillborn exactly a year before his birth.^[1]
• Before he became a painter, Van Gogh worked for the art dealers Goupil & Cie, including at their London branch, and later as an unpaid supply teacher in Ramsgate, England.^[1]
• Van Gogh worked as a missionary among Belgian coal miners until church authorities dismissed him for "undermining the dignity of the priesthood" with his humble way of living.^[1]
• Van Gogh painted four versions of Sunflowers in one week to get ready for Paul Gauguin's visit to Arles.^[1]
• More than 600 letters from Van Gogh to his brother Theo survive, but only about 40 from Theo to Vincent, because Vincent kept only a few of the letters he received.^[1]
• Vincent van Gogh and Nikola Tesla were alive at the same time for 34 years.^[1][2][3][4]
• Vincent van Gogh was alive at the same time as Carl Friedrich Gauss — their lives overlapped for 2 years (1853–1855).^[1][2][5][6]

Vincent Willem van Gogh was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who is among the most famous and influential figures in the history of Western art. In just over a decade, he created approximately 2,100 artworks, including around 860 oil paintings, most of them in the last two years of his life. His oeuvre includes landscapes, still lifes, portraits, and self-portraits, most of which are characterised by bold colours and dramatic brushwork that contributed to the rise of expressionism in modern art. Van Gogh's work was only beginning to gain critical attention before his death from suicide at age 37. During his lifetime, only one of Van Gogh's paintings, The Red Vineyard, was sold.^[1]

Contemporaries

Giuseppe Verdi

37 yr overlap

Otto von Bismarck

37 yr overlap

Frederick Douglass

37 yr overlap

Herman Melville

37 yr overlap

Queen Victoria

37 yr overlap

Susan B. Anthony

37 yr overlap

Florence Nightingale

37 yr overlap

Harriet Tubman

37 yr overlap

Louis Pasteur

37 yr overlap

Jules Verne

37 yr overlap

Leo Tolstoy

37 yr overlap

Alfred Nobel

37 yr overlap

Their World

Questions About Vincent van Gogh

When was Vincent van Gogh born?

Vincent van Gogh was born on March 30, 1853, and died on July 29, 1890.

How old was Vincent van Gogh at death?

Vincent van Gogh was born on March 30, 1853, and died on July 29, 1890, at age 37.

What was Vincent van Gogh known for?

Vincent van Gogh was known for: Starry Night, post-Impressionist icon. Vincent Willem van Gogh was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who is among the most famous and influential figures in the history of Western art. In just over a decade, he created approximately 2,100 artworks, including around 860 oil paintings, most of them in the last two years of his life. His oeuvre includes landscapes, still lifes, portraits, and self-portraits, most of which are characterised by bold colours and dramatic brushwork that contributed to the rise of expressionism in modern art. Van Gogh's work was only beginning to gain critical attention before his death from suicide at age 37. During his lifetime, only one of Van Gogh's paintings, The Red Vineyard, was sold.

Who was alive at the same time as Vincent van Gogh?

Vincent van Gogh's closest contemporary was Giuseppe Verdi. Their lives overlapped for 37 years.