Vincent van Gogh

Vincent van Gogh was born in the Dutch town Zundert in 1853. He worked for a short time as a missionary, but decided in 1880 to devote himself to art. After falling out with his family he moved to Paris, where his brother Theo lived and worked. There he met Paul Gauguin and several other important young artists. In 1888 he moved to Arles in the South of France, intending to establish an artists’ cooperative. Periods of intense productivity were punctuated by attacks of severe mental illness. Van Gogh killed himself in 1890.