Vincent van Gogh Timeline

Vincent van Gogh 41

1853 Vincent van Gogh born in Zundert Named after a brother born dead a year earlier Vincent Willem van Gogh was born on 30 March 1853, exactly one year after a stillborn brother of the same name whose grave stood beside the church.
1857 Theo is born The brother who sustained him Four years younger, Theo became an art dealer and supported Vincent financially for the whole of his painting life. Their correspondence runs to more than six hundred letters.
1869 – 1873 Art dealer at Goupil & Cie The Hague branch, aged sixteen Vincent joined the international art dealership where his uncle was a partner, and for a few years was good at it.
1873 – 1875 Transferred to London And rejected by Eugénie Loyer Vincent lodged in Brixton and fell for his landlady's daughter, who was secretly engaged to someone else. The refusal began a long withdrawal from the trade.
1875 – 1876 Dismissed from Goupil in Paris He had stopped hiding his contempt for the business Increasingly absorbed in religion, Vincent argued with customers about the worthlessness of art as merchandise and was let go.
1876 Teacher and lay preacher in England Ramsgate and Isleworth He taught at a small school for almost no pay and preached his first sermon in a Methodist chapel, writing to Theo that he had found his calling.
1877 – 1878 Fails the theology entrance Amsterdam, then a missionary school in Brussels Vincent could not master the Latin and Greek required, and was later judged unsuited to the three-year missionary course as well.
1878 – 1880 Missionary in the Borinage A Belgian coal district Vincent gave away his possessions, slept on straw and nursed the injured after a mine disaster. The church committee dismissed him for an excess of zeal that undermined the dignity of the priesthood.
1880 Van Gogh decides to become a painter Age 27 — after failing as a preacher Van Gogh decided to become a painter in 1880 at age 27, after a failed career as an art dealer and missionary preacher. He was largely self-taught and would only live another 10 years, producing over 2,000 works.
1881 – 1882 Anton Mauve teaches him to paint The Hague — his only formal training A successful cousin by marriage set him up with oils and watercolours. They fell out within months over Vincent's refusal to draw from plaster casts.
1881 Rejected by Kee Vos His widowed cousin She answered with never, no, never. Vincent held his hand in a lamp flame asking to see her for as long as he could bear it. Her father blew out the lamp.
1882 – 1883 Lives with Sien Hoornik A pregnant former prostitute and her daughter Vincent took in Sien and her child, drew them constantly, and hoped to marry her. Family pressure and poverty ended it after eighteen months.
1883 – 1885 The Nuenen years A studio in his parents' washhouse Two years painting weavers and peasants in dark earth tones — the most productive stretch of his Dutch period, and the one that produced The Potato Eaters.
1885 His father dies A sudden stroke at the parsonage door Their relationship had been bitter for years. Vincent painted his father's Bible beside a small worn novel — an argument between them made into a still life.
1885 – 1886 The Antwerp Academy Enrolled, and quickly at odds Vincent discovered Rubens and Japanese prints in Antwerp. His teachers put him in the beginners' drawing class — he had already left by the time the decision was made.
1885 The Potato Eaters His first major work — dark Dutch period Van Gogh painted The Potato Eaters in 1885 — a dark, earthy portrayal of a peasant family eating by lamplight. He called it his most serious work to date, aiming to show the dignity of physical labour.
1886 – 1888 Van Gogh moves to Paris Discovers Impressionism — palette transforms Van Gogh moved to Paris in 1886, living with his brother Theo. He discovered Impressionism and Japanese woodcuts, and his palette transformed from dark earth tones to vibrant colour. He met Gauguin, Toulouse-Lautrec and Seurat.
1887 Discovers Japanese prints He copies them in oil Vincent collected hundreds of ukiyo-e woodblocks and made painted versions of several. Their flat colour and steep angles reshaped everything that followed.
1887 Paints alongside Signac and Bernard The palette finally lightens Working on the banks of the Seine with younger painters, Vincent absorbed pointillist colour theory and abandoned the browns of his Dutch years for good.
1888 Gauguin arrives in Arles Nine weeks that end in disaster Theo paid Gauguin to join him. The two painted side by side and argued constantly, and the visit collapsed in the crisis of 23 December.
1888 Rents the Yellow House A studio of the South Vincent leased four rooms on the Place Lamartine, imagining a community of artists working together in the Provençal light.
1888 Sunflowers series painted Fourteen canvases of extraordinary colour Van Gogh painted his celebrated Sunflowers series in Arles in 1888, creating 14 canvases. He intended them to decorate Gauguin's room. They are now among the most expensive paintings ever sold.
1888 The Bedroom Painted to suggest rest Vincent made three versions. He wrote out the colour scheme to Theo in detail, insisting the flat broad tones should convey absolute repose.
1888 The Night Café A place where you could ruin yourself Painted over three nights in violent reds and greens, the picture Vincent said expressed the terrible passions of humanity through colour alone.
1888 Van Gogh moves to Arles The Yellow House — most productive period Van Gogh moved to Arles in southern France in February 1888, renting the Yellow House. In the following months he produced some of his greatest works including the Sunflowers series, the Bedroom and the Night Café.
1888 Van Gogh cuts off his ear After argument with Gauguin Van Gogh cut off part of his left ear on December 23, 1888, following a violent argument with Paul Gauguin. He wrapped it and delivered it to a woman at a local brothel. He was hospitalised and Gauguin fled Arles.
1889 Irises Painted in the asylum garden Made within a week of his arrival at Saint-Rémy, before he was allowed beyond the walls. Theo entered it in the Salon des Indépendants that September.
1889 The neighbours' petition Thirty signatures asking for his removal Residents of the Place Lamartine petitioned the mayor, and Vincent was confined in the Arles hospital. The Yellow House was closed up.
1889 – 1890 The olive groves and cypresses Painted from the asylum grounds Vincent worked the twisted trees and flame-shaped cypresses over and over, calling the cypress as beautiful in line and proportion as an Egyptian obelisk.
1889 Admitted to Saint-Paul-de-Mausole asylum Voluntarily commits himself Van Gogh voluntarily admitted himself to the Saint-Paul-de-Mausole psychiatric asylum in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence in May 1889. During his year there he painted over 150 canvases including The Starry Night.
1889 The Starry Night painted His most iconic work — painted in an asylum Van Gogh painted The Starry Night in June 1889 from the window of his room at the Saint-Paul asylum. The swirling night sky over a village is now the most reproduced artwork in history after the Mona Lisa.
1890 Albert Aurier publishes on him The first serious article A long piece in the Mercure de France calling him a terrible and maddened genius. Vincent found the praise unbearable and asked Aurier to write about Monticelli instead.
1890 Auvers-sur-Oise and Doctor Gachet Seventy days, about seventy-five paintings Vincent left the asylum for a village near Paris and the care of a homeopath who was himself melancholy. He worked at an extraordinary rate until the end.
1890 His nephew is born Named Vincent Willem Theo's son was named after him. Vincent painted Almond Blossom for the child — pale flowers against blue, one of the most serene things he made.
1890 Portrait of Doctor Gachet The sorrowful expression of our time Vincent described wanting to paint the heartbroken look of the modern face. The picture later became one of the most expensive paintings ever sold.
1890 The Red Vineyard is sold Four hundred francs — the only documented sale Bought by the Belgian painter Anna Boch in Brussels. The story that he never sold a painting is not quite true, but it is nearly true.
1890 Vincent van Gogh dies at Auvers 29 July, thirty-seven years old Vincent died thirty hours after the shooting, with Theo beside him. He was buried in the village cemetery the following day.
1890 Wheatfield with Crows Long assumed to be his last A double-square canvas of storm sky and black birds. It was not in fact the final painting, but it has been read as one ever since.
1890 Van Gogh shoots himself Dies age 37 — only one painting sold in his lifetime Van Gogh shot himself in a wheat field in Auvers-sur-Oise on July 27, 1890, dying two days later on July 29. He was 37. He had sold only one painting in his lifetime. His brother Theo died six months later.
1891 Theo dies Six months after his brother Theo collapsed into illness within weeks of Vincent's death and died at thirty-three. He was later reburied beside Vincent at Auvers.
1914 Jo van Gogh-Bonger publishes the letters The reason we know him Theo's widow inherited the paintings nobody wanted, spent decades placing them in exhibitions, and edited the correspondence that made Vincent legible to the world.