Vincent van Gogh

The painter with wavy consciousness

Who is he?

Vincent van Gogh was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter whose deep emotionality allowed him to depict the world more beautifully than anyone else.

Why is he an overman?

Vincent is probably the greatest painter in history for simply being a pure and unadjusted soul who feels and suffers at will, and his brushstrokes simply follow the contours of his inner world. The images in his paintings are his truth and they transfer the viewer deep into his emotionality.

Vincent’s letters allow us to see him not only as an artist, but also as a man. His feelings for the world and for people are heartbreaking because he is always doomed to feel lonely, but to keep searching for a real deep connection with them. He embraces and explores life with a serenity that makes him both tragic and endlessly heroic.

Quotes:

It is better to be high-spirited, even though one makes more mistakes, than to be narrow-minded and all too prudent.

It is good to love many things, for therein lies the true strength, and whosoever loves much performs much, and can accomplish much, and what is done in love, is well done.

There is nothing more truly artistic than to love people.

Do you know what makes the prison disappear? Every deep, genuine affection. Being friends, being brothers, loving, that is what opens the prison, with supreme power, by some magic force. Without these one stays dead. But whenever affection is revived, there life revives.

Though I am often in the depths of misery, there is still calmness, pure harmony and music inside me. I see paintings or drawings in the poorest cottages, in the dirtiest corners. And my mind is driven towards these things with an irresistible momentum.

Short biography:

30 August 1853 – 29 July 1890

Vincent van Gogh was a Dutch post-impressionist painter born in the village of Zundert in the Netherlands. He was raised in a middle-class family with two brothers and three sisters, and his early life was shaped by a strict religious atmosphere and parents who valued education. Van Gogh initially pursued a career in the clergy, but after several failed attempts in various fields, he turned to art at the age of 27. He was largely self-taught, although he briefly studied at art schools in Belgium and the Netherlands.

In the 1880s, Van Gogh moved to Paris, where he encountered the works of impressionist and neo-impressionist artists, which had a profound impact on his style. His palette grew brighter, and he began to experiment with brushstrokes and color in ways that would define his later works. His time in Paris also brought him into contact with his brother, Theo, who was an art dealer and provided Vincent with emotional and financial support. In 1888, Van Gogh relocated to the south of France to the town of Arles, where he created some of his most well-known paintings.

His paintings are often seen as a direct reflection of his inner turmoil and mental health struggles. His work speaks to the tension between his desire for connection and the isolation he often felt, and his use of expressive color, form, and texture allowed him to communicate complex feelings that were groundbreaking for the time. He did not gain recognition during his lifetime, but his legacy has had an immense impact on human culture.

Van Gogh’s mental health progressively deteriorated, leading to a series of psychotic episodes. In December 1888, during a moment of crisis, he famously cut off part of his own ear. The most likely theory is that this was a result of a fight with his friend Paul Gaugin. After that he spent time in a psychiatric hospital in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence. His struggles with mental illness persisted and at the age of 37, he died from a gunshot wound in Auvers-sur-Oise, under circumstances that remain somewhat unclear.

Notable work:

Starry night, Museum of Modern Art, New York

Starry Night Over the Rhône, Musée d’Orsay, Paris

The Sunflowers, Neue Pinakothek, Munich

Café Terrace at Night, Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo

Wheatfield with Cypresses, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York