Vincent Van Gogh | Biography, Art, & Facts | Britannica

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• Introduction & Top Questions
• Early life
• The productive decade
• Legacy

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• What did Vincent van Gogh accomplish?
• Why did Vincent van Gogh cut off his ear and who did he give it to?
• What was Vincent van Gogh’s cause of death?

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External Websites

• The Met - Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890)
• Digital Commons at Molloy - Van Gogh: Changing Perceptions of Mental Illness and Art (PDF)
• Artnet - Biography of Vincent van Gogh
• World History Encyclopedia - Biography of Vincent van Gogh
• Art in Context - Vincent van Gogh - The Art and Life of Painter Vincent Willem van Gogh
• Web Gallery of Art - Biography of Vincent van Gogh
• The Art Story - Biography of Vincent Van Gogh

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Quick Summary Ask Anything Also known as: Vincent Willem van Gogh Written and fact-checked by Britannica Editors Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree.... Britannica Editors Last updated Jan. 12, 2026 •History Quick Summary Ask Anything

Top Questions

Who was Vincent van Gogh?

Vincent van Gogh was a Dutch painter, generally considered to be one of the greatest of the Post-Impressionists. He sold very little art during his life, but in the century after his death he became one of the most recognized painter of all time.

What did Vincent van Gogh accomplish?

During his 10-year artistic career, Vincent van Gogh created a vivid personal style, noted for its striking color, emphatic brushwork, and contoured forms. This was seen in a few of his famous works including The Starry Night (1889) and The Bedroom (three versions painted in 1888 and 1889) as well as in his many still lifes, landscapes, and portraits. His achievement is all the more remarkable for the brevity of his career and considering the poverty and mental illness that dogged him.

What were Vincent van Gogh’s jobs?

Vincent van Gogh’s career as an artist was extremely short, lasting only the 10 years from 1880 to 1890. Before that he had various occupations, including art dealer, language teacher, lay preacher, bookseller, and missionary worker.

Why did Vincent van Gogh cut off his ear and who did he give it to?

There are various theories for Vincent van Gogh’s self-mutilation. The incident occurred on December 23, 1888, apparently during a heated argument with fellow artist Paul Gauguin. Afterward van Gogh was reported to have wrapped the severed ear in paper and delivered it to either a prostitute or a cleaning woman at a nearby brothel, instructing her to “guard this object carefully.” Some historians suggest the episode may have been exacerbated by van Gogh’s consumption of absinthe, a potent alcoholic beverage. Others speculate that it was an act of self-punishment or a desperate plea for help. Additionally, some art historians have proposed that Gauguin may have been more involved in the incident, possibly injuring van Gogh during their altercation.

What was Vincent van Gogh’s cause of death?

Vincent van Gogh died on July 29, 1890, two days after having apparently shot himself. In 2011 a theory was put forward that van Gogh’s death had actually been a murder or accidental killing. Movies such as Loving Vincent (2017) and Julian Schnabel’s At Eternity’s Gate (2018) further nurtured this thesis, but many historians maintain that van Gogh died by suicide.

Vincent van Gogh (born March 30, 1853, Zundert, Netherlands—died July 29, 1890, Auvers-sur-Oise, near Paris, France) was a Dutch painter, generally considered one of the greatest of the Post-Impressionists. Van Gogh started his artistic career rather late, beginning at age 27. In the decade that followed he created an astonishingly large body of work, consisting of some 900 paintings and 1,100 drawings. His unique personal style, noted for its striking color, emphatic brushwork, and contoured forms, was realized only in the last three years of his life. Although van Gogh sold little of his art while he was alive, his work was a powerful influence on the Expressionist movement in modern art and became astoundingly popular after his death. His published letters, notably those to his devoted brother Theo van Gogh, document the artist’s struggles with mental health and poverty, and, in part may have contributed to his mythology in the popular imagination as the quintessential tortured artist.

Early life

Van Gogh, the eldest of six children of a Protestant pastor, was born and reared in a small village in the Brabant region of the southern Netherlands. He was a quiet, self-contained youth, spending his free time wandering the countryside to observe nature. At 16 he was apprenticed to The Hague branch of the art dealers Goupil and Co., of which his uncle was a partner.

Van Gogh worked for Goupil in London from 1873 to May 1875 and in Paris from that date until April 1876. Daily contact with works of art aroused his artistic sensibility, and he soon formed a taste for Rembrandt, Frans Hals, and other Dutch masters, although his preference was for two contemporary French painters, Jean-François Millet and Camille Corot, whose influence was to last throughout his life. Van Gogh disliked art dealing. Moreover, his approach to life darkened when his love was rejected by a London woman in 1874. His burning desire for human affection thwarted, he became increasingly solitary.

Van Gogh worked as a language teacher and lay preacher in England and, in 1877, worked for a bookseller in Dordrecht, Netherlands. Impelled by a longing to serve humanity, he envisaged entering the ministry and took up theology; however, he abandoned this project in 1878 for short-term training as an evangelist in Brussels. A conflict with authority ensued when he disputed the orthodox doctrinal approach. Failing to get an appointment after three months, he left to do missionary work among the impoverished population of the Borinage, a coal-mining region in southwestern Belgium. There, in the winter of 1879–80, he experienced the first great spiritual crisis of his life. Living among the poor, he gave away all his worldly goods in an impassioned moment; he was thereupon dismissed by church authorities for a too-literal interpretation of Christian teaching.

Quick Facts In full: Vincent Willem van Gogh (Show more) Born: March 30, 1853, Zundert, Netherlands (Show more) Died: July 29, 1890, Auvers-sur-Oise, near Paris, France (aged 37) (Show more) Notable Works: “Portrait of Dr. Gachet” “Starry Night over the Rhône” “The Potato Eaters” “The Starry Night” “Women Picking Olives” (Show more) Movement / Style: Post-Impressionism (Show more) On the Web: The Met - Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890) (Jan. 12, 2026) (Show more) See all related content Show More

Penniless and feeling that his faith was destroyed, he sank into despair and withdrew from everyone. “They think I’m a madman,” he told an acquaintance, “because I wanted to be a true Christian. They turned me out like a dog, saying that I was causing a scandal.” It was then that van Gogh began to draw seriously, thereby discovering in 1880 his vocation as an artist. Van Gogh decided that his mission from then on would be to bring consolation to humanity through art. “I want to give the wretched a brotherly message,” he explained to Theo van Gogh. “When I sign [my paintings] ‘Vincent,’ it is as one of them.” This realization of his creative powers restored his self-confidence.

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