Vincent Van Gogh shot himself on his chest at the age of 37. How did this talented artist come to take his own life? In order to understand, one must look at his early life. Vincent Van Gogh was born on March 30, 1853. He grew up in a little town in Holland named Groot-Zundert. Van Gogh was the oldest of five siblings. While he was shy and spent much of his time alone, he was short-tempered and became violent easily. Van Gogh was the oldest of five siblings. Van Gogh expressed his feelings in the letters he sent to his younger brother Theo. Theo helped his brother by sending money and encouraging him to paint more. Van Gogh’s parents arranged for him to work at an art gallery with his uncle, so his interest in artwork grew. He did well at first and enjoyed being around painting and sculptures. “He also loved to collect flowers and insects, observing the colors of sunset or watching leaves moving in the wind” (Ergas 144). Vincent Van Gogh’s aim was not to become an artist; painting was something he did solely to express his emotions through his constant depression and dismay due to his loneliness.
He tried many professions before becoming an artist. First, he worked as a
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Vincent Van Gogh was an artist for only 10 years. He started painting at the age of twenty seven and died at thirty seven. “He made over 1,700 drawings and paintings in that short time” (Bucks 31). That’s almost one every two days. “The Red Vineyards” is the only painting he sold in his whole life. For the reasons above, I really feel bad for him because he never had self-confidence. If he’d have sold his paintings, he would have been a great artist when he was alive, but due to his depression, he never trusted himself. In brief, his fame was achieved one hundred years after his death because he chose not to sell his