1 of 12

Vincent Van Gogh

Dutch Painter

March 30th, 1853 - July 29th, 1890

2 of 12

Van Gogh was born in Netherlands, Europe
He decided to become an artist later on in his life
A post-impressionist painter who was self-taught
He began as a sketch artist and then a painter
Early paintings were very sad and gloomy
He was later inspired by Japanese art which was full of color and happiness
He created over 900 paintings in his lifetime
He used bold brush strokes to create a unique texture-like effect
He loved painting but was not very happy and no one truly appreciated his work

3 of 12

Early artwork by Van Gogh using dark colors. He wanted to express the sadness and simplicity of these hard working people where he once lived.

The specific use of colors can create mood and feelings in a painting

“The Potato Eaters”, 1885, Netherlands

“Two Peasant Women in the Peat field”, 1883

4 of 12

Influenced by Japanese art he began using brighter colors

5 of 12

Van Gogh applied more bold brush strokes to emphasize the subject and create the illusion of “movement” in his paintings. He loved using excessive amount of paint in his artwork.

“Starry Night”, 1889

“Wheat Field with Cypresses”, 1889

6 of 12

Another example of Van Gogh using thick brush strokes.

“Wheat Fields with crows”, 1890

7 of 12

He liked to outline the objects. Notice the outlining of the vase and table in the “Sunflowers”, 1889 painting and the furniture in “The bedroom”, 1888 painting (which is a painting of his actual bedroom)

8 of 12

More of his amazing art!

“Cafe Terrace at night”, 1888 (right)

“Starry night over Rhone”, 1888 (below)

9 of 12

He painted many self portraits and portraits of people in his life. Here are just a few of them...

10 of 12

“The Postman Joseph Roulin”, 1888

“Adeline Ravoux”, 1890