Vincent Van Gogh, wheatfield with crows Vincent van Gogh was a sad artist in the 19th century. His life was a depressing mess. He struggled with identity, his family, true love, acceptance and belonging. Even though the art world did not acknowledge him while he lived, he kept on painting. He once said; “If you hear a voice within you say ‘you cannot paint,’ then by all means paint and that voice will be silenced”. Today he is an important person in art history. Through the letters Vincent wrote to his brother Theo, doctors learned that he had bipolar disorder. A person with bipolar disorder has manic episodes and depressive episodes. Vincents art was greatly affected by his poor mental health, as was his entire life. Due to the disorder he tended to make big decisions based off sudden …show more content…
When things did not go as he had hoped he would become very disappointed and sad. His sister said that when this happened, when people failed to live up to his illusion of them, he would become greatly disappointed and he “throws them away like a bouquet of wilted flowers”. Vincent was born in 1853 on march the 30th. His older brother was a stillborn therefore Vincent was the biggest of his 5 siblings. His mother, Anna, loved nature, watercolors and drawing. Vincent’s father, Theodorus, was a protestant minister. Vincent didn’t show any interest in his parents passions as a child. According to his sister, Elisabeth, he was a serious and sensitive child. She also said that "Not only were his little sisters and brothers like strangers to him, but he was a stranger to himself." At the age of 15-16 Vincent had to quit school, even though he liked it, because his family lacked financial stability at the time. Instead he began working at his uncle’s art dealership. The family had been involved in the art business for some time and Vincent’s brother also became an art