Van Gogh

Today the works of Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890) are among the best known and most celebrated in the world. In canvases such as the series of Sunflowers, Starry Night, Self-Portrait with the ear blindfolded and many other drawings and paintings, we can recognize an artist extraordinarily skilled at depicting places and moods in pencil, watercolour, chalk or charcoal .

However, while he was experimenting the bright colours, the bold brush strokes and the sharply contoured shapes that would have made him famous, Van Gogh he was not only fighting against the disinterest of the public of his time, but also against terrible bouts of mental illness . Ultimately, the bouts of depression and anxiety he suffered proved fatal when, in 1890, he committed suicide shortly after turning 37.

This introduction to Vincent van Gogh, richly illustrated, traces his story from his first paintings depicting peasants and laborers to his brilliant Parisian period, finally arriving at the feverish explosion of creativity in the south of France, during the last two and a half years of his life.