Van Gogh Essays - Vincent Van Gogh, Van Gogh Museum,

Van Gogh Hi, my name is Vincent Van Gogh. I was born on March 30, 1853 in Groot-Zundert, North Brabant, Netherlands. I am the eldest son of a Protestant Clergyman. In 1869, at age 16, I began to work for Groupil and Company, who were Art Dealers in The Hague, where my uncle was a partner. I briefly turned to teaching school in England after Groupil and Company dismissed me in 1876. I then began to study for entrance to a theological seminary to follow in the footsteps of my father. After failing to qualify, I then volunteered for service among the coal miners of the Borinage in southern Belgium. In 1881 I moved to The Hague to work with the Dutch landscape painter Anton Mauve. And the next summer I began to experiment with oil paints. My urge to be alone with nature took me to Dutch villages, and my subjects still life, landscape, and figure all related to the peasants' daily hardships and surroundings. In 1885 I produced my first masterpiece, 'The Potato Eaters'. In my life I have not accomplished much. I failed and lost interest in many of jobs that I have had. I did become a lay preacher in 1876. As for my paintings, I only sold one of them that I can remember. But I'm sure they will be worth millions in the future. My life as I have seen I was pretty much a waste of oxygen. I didn't accomplish anything in my eyes and anyone else's eyes that I know of. Sure, I made over a thousand paintings, but, I only sold one, I never married or had kids, and I couldn't stick to one profession. Now on July 27, 1890 I think I am going to go and commit suicide. I can't stand these mental hospitals anymore, even though they were my greatest inspiration. The people that have lived in my lifetime are the following: Queen Victoria, Disraeli, Gladstone, Franz Joseph, Bismarck, Marxx, Engles, Wells, Sydney and Beatrice Webb, George Shaw, Ramsey MacDonald, William Booth, Churchill, and Paul Kruger to name a few. European History