Vincent van Gogh was a post-Impressionist artist who is now considered one of the greatest painters of all time.
Here are ten facts about Vincent van Gogh:
1. Van Gogh was born in the Netherlands in 1853.
2. He didn’t start painting until he was 27 years old.
3. He only sold one painting during his lifetime – “The Red Vineyard at Arles” for 400 francs (about $60 US dollars today).
4. Most of his paintings were done in the last two years of his life.
5. He suffered from mental illness and committed suicide at the age of 37.
6. His brother Theo supported him financially and emotionally throughout his life – Vincent even once said that Theo was more like a father to him than a brother.
7. Van Gogh painted over 800 paintings, including some famous ones like “Starry Night”, “Sunflowers”, and “The Potato Eaters”.
8. He cut off part of his own ear after getting into a fight with fellow artist Paul Gauguin – there are different stories about why he did this, but it’s most likely because he was suffering from mental illness at the time.
9. His artworks are among the most expensive ever sold – in 1990, “Portrait of Dr Gachet” sold for $82 million US dollars (adjusted for inflation, that would be over $140 million today). In 2015, “Women of Algiers (Version O)” by Pablo Picasso became the most expensive painting ever sold at auction when it went for $179 million US dollars!
10. There is now a museum dedicated to van Gogh’s work in Amsterdam – if you’re ever in the area, it’s definitely worth checking out!
