Theo died in January 1891, removing Vincent's most vocal and well-connected champion. [283] Theo's widow Johanna van Gogh-Bonger was a Dutchwoman in her twenties who had not known either her husband or her brother-in-law very long and who suddenly had to take care of several hundreds of paintings, letters and drawings, as well as her infant son, Vincent Willem van Gogh. [278] [note 14] Gauguin was not inclined to offer assistance in promoting Van Gogh's reputation, and Johanna's brother Andries Bonger also seemed lukewarm about his work. [278] Aurier, one of Van Gogh's earliest supporters among the critics, died of typhoid fever in 1892 at the age of 27. [285] Painter on the Road to Tarascon, August 1888 (destroyed by fire in the Second World War) Over the course of 10 years, van Gogh created more than 43 self-portraits as both paintings and drawings. "I am looking for a deeper likeness than that obtained by a photographer," he wrote to his sister.

Cain, Abigail (26 July 2016). "How One Art History Teacher Solved Two of the Biggest Mysteries about Van Gogh". artsy.net. Archived from the original on 21 February 2019 . Retrieved 21 February 2019.The self-portraits reflect a high degree of self-scrutiny. [249] Often they were intended to mark important periods in his life; for example, the mid-1887 Paris series were painted at the point where he became aware of Claude Monet, Paul Cézanne and Signac. [250] In Self-Portrait with Grey Felt Hat, heavy strains of paint spread outwards across the canvas. It is one of his most renowned self-portraits of that period, "with its highly organized rhythmic brushstrokes, and the novel halo derived from the Neo-impressionist repertoire was what Van Gogh himself called a 'purposeful' canvas". [251] In July, Van Gogh wrote that he had become absorbed "in the immense plain against the hills, boundless as the sea, delicate yellow". [196] He had first become captivated by the fields in May, when the wheat was young and green. In July, he described to Theo "vast fields of wheat under turbulent skies". [197]

Editors Leo Jansen, Hans Luijten and Nienke Bakker have selected the 265 most essential Van Gogh letters, illustrated by more than 100 letter

hoakley (6 April 2017). "Jules Breton's Eternal Harvest: 4 1877–1889". The Eclectic Light Company. Archived from the original on 15 January 2021 . Retrieved 1 January 2021. Vincent Willem van Gogh was born on 30 March 1853 in Groot-Zundert, in the predominantly Catholic province of North Brabant in the Netherlands. [24] He was the oldest surviving child of Theodorus van Gogh (1822–1885), a minister of the Dutch Reformed Church, and his wife, Anna Cornelia Carbentus (1819–1907). Van Gogh was given the name of his grandfather and of a brother stillborn exactly a year before his birth. [note 2] Vincent was a common name in the Van Gogh family. The name had been borne by his grandfather, the prominent art dealer Vincent (1789–1874), and a theology graduate at the University of Leiden in 1811. This Vincent had six sons, three of whom became art dealers, and may have been named after his own great-uncle, a sculptor (1729–1802). [26] BBC – Magazine Monitor: How to Say: Van Gogh". BBC. 22 January 2010. Archived from the original on 26 September 2016 . Retrieved 10 September 2016. Van Gogh's Bedroom depicts his living quarters at 2 Place Lamartine, Arles, known as the "Yellow House". It is one of his most well known images. His use of bold and vibrant colors to depict the off-kilter perspective of his room demonstrated his liberation from the muted palette and realistic renderings of the Dutch artistic tradition, as well as the pastels commonly used by the Impressionists. He labored over the subject matter, colors, and arrangements of this composition, writing many letters to Theo about it, "This time it's just simply my bedroom, only here color is to do everything, and giving by its simplification a grander style to things, is to be suggestive here of rest or of sleep in general. In a word, looking at the picture ought to rest the brain, or rather the imagination." While the bright yellows and blues might at first seem to echo a sense of disquiet, the bright hues call to mind a sunny summer day, evoking as sense of warmth and calm, as Van Gogh intended. This personal interpretation of a scene in which particular emotions and memories drive the composition and palette is a major contribution to modernist painting.

When one has fire within oneself, one cannot keep bottling [it] up—better to burn than to burst. What is in will out. I do not say that my work is good, but it's the least bad that I can do. All the rest, relations with people, is very secondary, because I have no talent for that. I can't help it. Van Gogh (2009), Letter RM20. Vincent to Theo and Jo van Gogh-Bonger. Auvers-sur-Oise, Saturday, 24 May 1890.He began taking lessons on his own, studying books like Travaux des champs by Jean-François Millet and Cours de dessin by Charles Bargue.