Vincent Van Gogh: The story of extraordinary talent & late appreciation

CAIRO – 16 March 2022: On March 15, 1901, paintings of the late Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh were exhibited at the Bernheim-Jeune Gallery in Paris. The 71 paintings, whose subjects were captured in bold brushstrokes and expressive colors, caused a sensation throughout the art world.

In 1890, while outside Paris, Van Gogh committed suicide, not knowing that his works would gain fame beyond his dreams. Only one painting sold for $40 million at Christie's in 1987.

Van Gogh was born in Zundert, the Netherlands in 1853. He worked as an art gallery salesman, language teacher, bookseller, and missionary among Belgian miners before settling on his true career as an artist.

During the first few years his interest was confined almost entirely to drawings and watercolors while gaining technical proficiency. In 1886, Van Gogh went to live with his brother Theo in Paris.

There Van Gogh met the most prominent French painters of the Post-Impressionism period, including Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Paul Gauguin, Camille Pissarro, and Georges Seurat.

He was greatly influenced by the theories of these artists and on the advice of Pissarro he adopted the type of color painting for which he was famous. His Portrait of Pere Tanguy (1887) was the first successful work of his new Post-Impressionist style.

The Sunflowers Series for Van Gogh - Vangoughmuseum.nl

In 1888, Van Gogh left Paris and took home in Arles in southeastern France. The next 12 months was his first great period. Working with great speed and intensity, he produced such masterful works as the "Sunflowers Series." He hoped to form a community of like-minded artists in Arles and was joined by Gauguin for two months.