Vincent van Gogh had one of the briefest careers in art history (Wallace 7). On March 30, 1853 in North Brafant, Holland, the now famous artist was born and he committed suicide on July 27, 1890 at the age of 37. His life was filled with many failures, disappointments, unhappiness, and depression (Wallace 7). Imagine being a child again and making art for your mother. You would expect her to pretend to love it even if it was really ugly. She might have even hung it up on the refrigerator for everyone in the house to see and praise. Anna Carbentus van Gogh, Vincent’s mother, in no way pretended to love her child’s work (Naifeh 11-12). She ridiculed it but that did not stop Vincent from trying to seek his mother’s approval. Vincent thought he …show more content…
Vincent van Gogh faced challenges daily that he struggled to overcome. From his mom not approving of his art at a young age, to his internal battles of depression and suicidal thoughts (Naifeh 11-12). While alive, he sold only one painting for the equivalent of $80 in today’s currency, causing him to view himself as a failure (Wallace 7). Even though he lost his battle with his suicidal thoughts, he still became known as one of the founding fathers of modern art. This sadly did not happen during his lifetime and was noticed not until 25 years after his death (Wallace 7). Today, his paintings The Potato Eaters, The Night Café, and The Starry Night are all in museums ranging in worth from 53 million to 200 million dollars (Wallace 7-8). He even has his own museum called Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, Netherlands (Wallace 7-8). One may think of themselves as a failure and be ridiculed for trying to accomplish a goal not seen as realistic by others. However, that should not stop them from giving up on their dreams. Van Gogh did not give up painting until his mental illness took over (Wallace 7). He was ridiculed by countless amounts of people but still created over 900 drawings and 800 paintings in his life time (Wallace