The Sad Story of Vincent.
Vincent van Gogh had a pretty tough time of things throughout his short existence. He spent a lot of his life in poverty and he suffered from terrible problems with mental illness. The only way that he could afford his paints and other materials was with money from his brother, Theo. But Vincent fought against all of these difficulties by exorcising his frustrations through his work.
He would paint just about anything; his chair, his tobacco, his pipe, his boots. When he spent time in a mental asylum he even talked some of his doctors into posing for portraits. Vincent was driven and his burning passion can clearly be seen in his work. If he could not express himself with a brush then he would use the palette knife or his fingers to put his feelings onto the canvas.
Considering that he did not begin painting until his late twenties, Vincent churned out an enormous amount of work before his death at 37. It is estimated that he created around 900 paintings and 1,100 drawings or sketches.
Vincent was dogged by depression and mental illness throughout his life, but in his last couple of years it became markedly worse. He was in a vicious circle; when he was depressed he could not paint and when he could not paint it made him depressed. Vincent van Gogh tried to shoot himself after creating ‘Crows over a Corn Field’, but did not die outright. Unaware that he would bleed to death, he walked back to the inn where he was staying.
His brother was contacted and he made it to Vincent’s side before he died two days later. His last words to Theo were; ‘The sadness will last forever’.
Over the course of his life he managed to sell only two of his paintings. Now, his work is some of the most valuable in the world.
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