Vincent Van Gogh was born Groot-Zundert, Holland in the year 1853. He was the son of a pastor, brought up in a spiritual and sophisticated ambiance. He is regarded as one of the greatest Dutch painters after Rembrandt. He was the eldest son of a Dutch reformed protestant minister and a bookseller’s daughter who pursued different professional courses that of a clergyman and art dealer before deciding to become an artist. He decided to become an artist at the age of 27 years. His sister described him as a grim introspective child. He was highly touchy and lacked self confidence.

Over the years he produced nearly 900 paintings and more than 1100 drawings in a span of 10 years before he had psychological disease and committed suicide.

The works of his early period are somber toned of which the most famous is “The potato Eaters” which was written in the year 1885. His reputation grew quickly after his death. His influence on fauvism, expressionism and early abstraction was massive. In 1986, he went to Paris and studied with Cormon and met with Monet, Pissarro and Gauguin and started to paint in brushstrokes of the impressionists. He underwent a major transformation during his stay in Paris. In Paris he carried out more than twenty self portraits that replicate his enduring investigation of balanced color contrasts and a bolder approach.

The Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam is dedicated to his paintings and also to his fellow generation mates. Many of his painting stand as the most expensive paintings in the world. On July 27th 1890, at the age of 37, he shot himself on the chest. He died two days after this incident took place with Theo his brother at his side. He was lay to rest at the cemetery of Auvers-Sur-oise. He is already regarded as the celebrated figure in the history of modern art and painting.