Rosie Ji Dr. Oltmanns Abnormal Psychology 30 October 2017 A Case Study of Vincent Van Gogh One of the most well-known painters in Western Art, Vincent Van Gogh was born into a middle-class family in the Netherlands. Known for his artistic talent, Van Gogh’s life still remains one of the greatest mysteries in art history. Despite the awe-inspiring paintings such as The Starry Night and Irises he created while he was alive, he was considered an outcast and lacked a strong positive social support. In fact, his idiosyncratic ways made him infamous for being the “drunken madman” who had cut off his ear and given it as present to a prostitute. 1. Artistic beginnings. Van Gogh’s introduction to art was through his mother, who was an amateur …show more content…
As mentioned earlier, his mother dabbled with art and his father was a devout clergyman, and both believed that God was always looking over them. His mother was strict with her children and was not affectionate or warm. In contrast, his father was good-natured and mellow but was extremely fervent about religion; something he and his father frequently quarreled about. As a child, Van Gogh was keen on impressing his father but after his decision to not be a minister, he and his father’s relationship fell irrevocably apart. Symptoms of major depression disorder. Although there is much uncertainty surrounding the nature of his mental disorder, many experts hold that he had suffered from major depression. Some symptoms that support this claim are that he had trouble sleeping, felt down most of the time and on most days, had a significantly decreased appetite, and felt guilty perversely. His occupation as an artist did not allow him to have a steady source of income, and he often felt as though he was complete failure as a son, a brother, and an artist. People around him had said that he was lonely, unfriendly, and aloof. This lack of company is undeniably a contributing factor in his depressed mood, further repelling people away from him. . Van Gogh’s unfriendly personality. His anti-social personality and cold tendency also seemed to put off many people. His abrasive behavior was
The excerpt, shows how Van Gogh escaped from his troubles and gained popularity, but only after he was dead. Van Gogh was born on 1853, renamed after his stillborn older brother. ¨As a result, Vincent Van Gogh grew up near the haunting sight of a grave with his own name upon it.¨(par. 1) His parents weren’t around most of the time, as they were also busy dealing with his younger siblings. He felt lonely, while his mother believed that his talent might come to use once he got older. He spent time by himself, but slowly depended on art to share his thoughts. With Van Gogh's shared name upon a grave of which his stillborn brother’s laid, felt as a replacement to his parents, as well, he became
Vincent van Gogh is one of the world’s most well-known artists. He was the son of a pastor and was brought up in a religious atmosphere. He thought his true calling was to preach the gospel like his father. He became a preacher in a small coal mining town. This is when he starting becoming very interested in the people and things that surrounded him. He became an artist at the age of 27.
Van Gogh and Monet had both lived exceptionally different lives. Van Gogh did not start off wanting to become an artist, he was actually very interested in theology and had eventually become a minister. It had seemed as though Van Gogh had found his calling. Unfortunately, he was released from the church after his generosity had betrayed him. While trying to help miners, he gave away all of his clothes and was only left with a cloth. The church committee overseeing Van Gogh let him go because he did not dress or preach eloquently. This led to Van Gogh gaining an interest in art which would lead him to go to an art school in Paris to
Most people have no idea that Van Gogh was a Christian. Before pursuing a career as an artist he desired to be a minister. In fact, he was very focused on pursuing ministry. He spent time ministering to coal miners. The
Just as Van Gogh struggled as a boy in relationships with his family and friends he struggled finding his calling as an artist. Van Gogh had explored the realms of working at art dealership’s as well as becoming minister as his father was. After finding that he was not
Around 1890, an artist by the name of Vincent Van Gogh who present day is one of the most renowned artists created magnificent, yet mysterious drawings which he started with just a pencil. From his pencil drawings with lines and dashes to the beautiful variations with using paint, Vincent was a genius, but was never congratulated on his work until later. Even as he was pronounced crazy, he could still create beautiful works of art which shows how even a flower can bloom in a dark forest. As his life was slowly being painted on canvas from the years of solitude and psychiatric problems he finally killed himself which a couple years later brought up his artwork through his own suicide.
Van Gogh started gaining attention in his last 2 years. But this wasn’t enough. His brother Theo wanted to show the world who his brother was after his death. Sadly, Theo died 6 months after Van Gogh. His widow, Jo van Gogh-Bonger did the work his dead husband couldn’t. She sold some of Vincent’s works, lend some for exhibitions and published the letters Van Gogh constantly wrote Theo. His unique life has inspired lots of people to become active in art. Who would think a “Redheaded Madman” could influence the world in the way he
In “Van Gogh’s Agony”, Lauren Soth proposes the argument that Starry Night by artist Vincent Van Gogh is more than just a landscape created from direct observation, but a nontraditional outlet for Van Gogh’s repressed religious beliefs that could not be expressed through traditional Christian imagery. However, Soth presents little convincing evidence from sources both primary and secondary to support this theory. Although some of the evidence may support his thesis, readers are quickly forced to doubt his knowledge. Throughout the paper, Soth presents information that contradicts the theories and information he provides, questions his own arguments, and is very quick to make conclusions and over analyze the artwork. Although Soth does provide a couple points that seem to work in supporting his thesis, these are overshadowed by the time spent focusing on trivial matters.
Observers of Van Gogh’s life believed that his eccentricities, compounded to create many distressing experiences that directly impacted the development of Expressionism. This was visible from his early childhood. Painting was no longer seen through pictures, it became a crucible that could hold all of the artist’s passions, conflicts, and unrealized dreams. (Encyclopedia.com)
A great artist once wrote, “If you hear a voice within you say 'you cannot paint,' then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced”. This artist was Vincent van Gogh, soon to be an appraised artist known all around the world for his works, such as Starry Night. He is one of the very first artists of the post-impressionist style than is now adored in every continent. However, there is much more to the man than one painting. Creating a full timeline that stretches beyond Gogh’s life, this paper will discuss the life of Vincent van Gogh and the impression he made on the world.
In 1880 at the age of twenty-seven Van Gogh moved to Brussels to become an artist. He studied with Willem Roelofs a Dutch artist. He then attended the Royal Academy of Art where he studied anatomy and perspective.
Van Gogh was a Post Impressionist artist who painted expressively to portray emotions subjectively, like Gauguin, rather then
Vincent Willem van Gogh was born on March 30th 1853, in Zundert, The Netherlands. Van Gogh spent his teenage year’s working for a firm of art dealers; however, he did not embark upon his art career until 1880. Originally, he worked only with dark and gloomy colors, until he came across the art movements developed in Paris known as, Impressionism and Neo-Impressionism (Meier-Graefe 4). Van Gogh than included their brighter colors and unique style of painting into his very own creations. He produced more than 2,000 works, including around 900 paintings and 1,100 drawings and sketches, during the last ten years of his life (Meier-Graefe 10). However, most of his best-known works were produced in his last
The one close relationship Van Gogh had with his siblings was with his brother Theo who supported him not only emotionally but financially. (Letters to Theo from Van Gogh are big parts in understanding Van Gogh’s life and the troubles he faced. published in 1959.) Van Gogh was largely self-taught as an artist, although he received help from his cousin, Mauve. His first works were heavily painted, mud-colored and clumsy attempts to represent the life of the poor (e.g. Potato-Eaters, 1885, Amsterdam), influenced by one of his artistic heroes, Millet. He moved to Paris in 1886, living with his devoted brother, Theo, who as a dealer introduced him to artists like Gauguin, Pissarro, Seurat and Toulouse-Lautrec. In Paris, he discovered color as well as the divisionist ideas which helped to create the distinctive dashed brushstrokes of his later work (e.g. Pere Tanguy, 1887, Paris). He moved to Arles, in the south of France, in 1888, hoping to establish an artists' colony there, and was immediately struck by the hot reds and yellows of the Mediterranean, which he increasingly used symbolically to represent his own moods (e.g. Sunflowers, 1888, London, National Gallery). He was joined briefly by Gauguin in October 1888, and managed in some works to combine his own ideas with the latter's Synthetism (e.g. The Sower, 1888, Amsterdam), but the visit was not a success. A final argument led to the infamous episode in which Van Gogh mutilated
Vincent Van Gogh had a rather depressing life. After being born into an upper-middle class family he quickly became depressed in life. He tried different things like working as an art dealer, becoming a Protestant missionary, and so on. None of these stuck for him as his mental health continued to decline. He was already a quiet, keep to himself kind of person, but over time he became more isolated. He got help from his younger brother Theo in the form of money and moved back home with his parents. This is when he began painting and eventually moved to Paris. Once moving there his paintings became more colorful and his painting style began to develop. He also began suffering from delusions and psychotic episodes and began neglecting his health by eating less and drinking alcohol more frequently and in