Gogh was a famous Dutch Post-Impressionist artist, whose unique artwork revolved around a curious joy of absorbing nature and its surroundings, then transforming what he saw into a distinctive style of expressionist art. Vincent created this distinctive style by expressing his emotions with a certain method of brush strokes and the color he blended with his brush strokes into his paintings. The van Gogh family and a number of powerful artists of that period had a great deal of influence on how Vincent van Gogh created his unique and colorful brush strokes (Wallace 9). The family influence on his unique and distinctive style of art began the day he was born on March 30, 1853. Vincent was born into a family of religious and artistic relatives who were mourning the death of his older brother. Vincents brother was born and died by stillbirth on the exact date that Vincent was born, a year later. It was a very odd coincidence and even odder when their parents gave Vincent Willem van Gogh the exact name they had given his older brother.
The stillborn baby was buried in a graveyard next to the familys church where his father was a Protestant minister. The gravestone of Vincents brother was inscribed with the words Suffer little children to come unto me and forbid them not for such is the KINGDOM OF GOD (Sweetman 7). The death of his older brother effected Vincent throughout his life, and his curiosity of his older brother with the exact name, birth date and date of death, would take Vincent on long walks past his brothers grave. (Torterolo 8). He would turn these curious walks from his home to his brothers grave into an adventure of wonder and he began exploring the colors and textures of nature.
He was a typical, ordinary child with a special gift of wonder and curiosity and would spend hours examining every detail of color and texture within a flower, leaf, bush, insect and anything of nature that caught his eye. Instead of playing with other children, he would prefer to play alone outside and was drawn to discovering nature like a bee to honey. As Vincent explored the road to and from the graveyard, he examined the colors and textures on a small scale, remembering every detail at an early age. As he grew older, these details would contribute to help him paint the larger scales of landscapes, trees, skies and water. Vincents nature walks became more interesting and meaningful when his younger brother, Theodorus (Theo) van Gogh was able to accompany him.
Theo was two years younger than Vincent and became his closest companion throughout his life. Together they would spend hours playing and exploring the Dutch countryside. Later in life, Vincent would write over 600 letters to Theo explaining the many colors he was mixing in his paintings, comparing them to the colors and textures they discovered on their nature walks when they were young boys. His mother, Anna Cornelia Carbentus who liked to sketch and paint wildflowers in her spare time as a hobby, was born into a family of art dealers. Vincents father, Theodorus (Dorus) van Gogh was a Protestant minister who came from a large family of religious ministers and art dealers.
This combination of influences from his mothers background in art and his fathers religion became an inner struggle for Vincent. These influences also had a deep impact on his life, how he viewed art and would eventually lead him to paint with dramatic bright colors and develop his own unique style of painting. The religious background of his father drew him towards the dramatic religious experiences that were portrayed in many masterpieces of art that Rembrandt created. Rembrandts paintings were a mixture of drama and tenderness, and of dark and light colors. This mixture of drama and colors caught Vincents curiosity and became another great influence in the development of his unique color and style.
The influence of these dark, dramatic, powerful scenes with light tender highlighted glows within them stayed with Vincent throughout his entire life and were revealed in many of his own paintings. Vincents namesake, Doruss brother, was known as Uncle Cent and was a wonderful influence in Vincents life. He introduced Vincent and Theo to the world of art by telling stories of great artists and their work. Vincent was an excellent student and loved to read. He was not sure what his career would be but he knew he had to go to work and help his family. Uncle Cent helped Vincent get started in the art world at the early age of sixteen.
Uncle Cent was a respected art dealer who helped him get an apprentice position, at The Hague School south of Amsterdam in the Netherlands. This was the introduction of his life into the world of art. Vincent worked at The Hague and was intrigued by the masterpieces that he worked with on a daily basis. Vincents joy of art grew with the new and exciting experiences at his job. It was evident that he enjoyed his work when The Hague promoted him and transferred him to The Goupil in London. In London, he followed the same pattern exploring the countryside, except that his small scale of evaluating color and texture, grew from evaluating flowers, leaves, bushes, and insects to a larger scale of historical architecture, bridges, and famous sculptures.
He would take many long walks to and from work reviewing every detail of architecture and style of the decorative buildings of London. Living in London became a turning point in Vincents life. He was very happy working at his job and he met his landowners daughter, Eugenie and secretly fell in love with her. Eugenie did not share his affections and rejected any relationship with Vincent.
He was devastated and Eugenies rejection started a series of deteriorating events in Vincents life. This deterioration was reflected in his work at The Goupil and eventually he was fired. He was no longer interested in anything in life except religion. He became obsessed with religion and was developing a negative outlook towards society. After being fired from The Goupil, his life took a gloomy turn for the worse. Vincent moved to Borinage, a coal-mining district in Belgium. The dark, dismal poverty stricken lifestyle of Borinage attracted Vincent. Although he was obsessed with religion and thought he needed to endure hardship of any kin …
