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Preacher in doubt and raging painter
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| Dutch painter. At 16
he was apprenticed to art dealers in The Hague, and he worked in
their London and Paris branches 1873-76. After much personal
turmoil, he began to draw and paint in watercolor (1880). He
studied at the Brussels Academy and with Anton Mauve at The
Hague (1881). His interest in art led him to join his brother
Theo, art dealer, in Paris, where he became acquainted with
Impressionism and Postimpressionism. In 1888 he moved to Arles,
in the S of France; there he painted more than 200 canvases in
15 months. His favorite subjects were still lifes, landscapes,
and peasant figures working in the countryside. Among his most
famous paintings are The Potato Eaters (1885), Starry Night
(1889), and Self-Portrait with Pipe and Bandaged Ear (1888; he
had sliced off his ear after a quarrel with P. Gauguin). Living
in poverty and suffering from recurrent depression, he entered
an asylum but continued to paint; during his 12-month stay
(1889) he completed 150 paintings and drawings. A move to
Auvers-sur-Oise in 1890 was followed by another burst of
activity, but he soon suffered a relapse and died that July of a
self-inflicted gunshot wound. His 10-year artistic career
produced more than 800 paintings and 700 drawings, of which he
sold only one in his lifetime. His work had a powerful influence
on the development of modern painting, and he is considered the
greatest Dutch painter since Rembrandt. |
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