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Starry Night One of Van Gogh's most famous pieces, Starry Night, painted in 1889, displays many of the techniques most associated with the artist. The strong brushstrokes, intense colors, and melancholy mood make it a quintessentially Van Gogh piece. This painting has become widely successful and has inspired everything from coffee mugs to the song "Vincent" by Don McLean.




Irises After years of difficulties, Van Gogh admitted himself to the asylum in Saint-Rémy in 1880. Although he experienced relapses in his health, it was in the gardens of Saint-Rémy, that Van Gogh painted many of his most famous pieces, including Irises. Surrounded by sympathetic doctors and able to write letters to his brother, Theo, Van Gogh worked prolifically and confidently.




Bedroom at Arles During the years of 1888-1889, Van Gogh painted his home in Arles, France many times saying, "color is to do everything . . . to be suggestive here of rest or of sleep. In a word, to look at the picture ought to rest the brain, or rather the imagination." With the pairs of chairs, paintings, and shirts, the painting is thought to reflect Van Gogh's deep loneliness and yearning for companionship.




Vincent Van Gogh
The Life of Vincent Van Gogh
Vincent Van Gogh was born in the Netherlands on March 30, 1853. During his lifetime, Van Gogh worked in an art gallery, as a language teacher, and translator—Van Gogh even studied to be a priest, but failed his religious exams. Rather than turn away from the religious life, Van Gogh chose to live in a small town and share his beliefs with the local people whom he used as subjects for his work. Lacking the professional anatomy training he needed to accurately draw people, Van Gogh developed his skills by copying the work of those he admired. Like many artists, Van Gogh found hands and feet especially difficult to draw, and worked hard to improve his drawings. As his skills developed, Van Gogh traveled to Paris where he was influenced by impressionism and the Japanese prints that made their way to Europe as packing material for fragile imported china. Even though his paintings were often bright and colorful, he led a stormy life and was known for his bad temper. At one point he became so angry with a fellow artist that he cut off part of his own ear! But art allowed Van Gogh to paint what he felt, and his unique personality led him to create paintings that display a unique style that is known for its bright colors, bold strokes, and strong emotions. Although it is said that he sold only one painting in his lifetime, his masterpieces are now some of the most popular images in the world of art—Starry Night, Irises, and The Night Café, are all paintings you might recognize!