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Photo: Vincent van Gogh, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain.Test your knowledge on the brilliant and tragic life of Vincent van Gogh. Explore his famous masterpieces, personal relationships, and the enduring legacy of his expressive style.
Art Admirer 0–4 · Palette Explorer 5–8 · Starry Night Scholar 9–10
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Vincent van Gogh was born on 30 March 1853 in Zundert, a village in the south of the Netherlands close to the Belgian border. His birth house is gone, but the Vincent van Gogh House now stands on the very same spot.
Photo: Michielverbeek, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
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Don McLean wrote 'Vincent' after reading a book about the painter's life. He said he sat down with a print of The Starry Night and wrote the lyrics on a paper bag. In 1972 the song went to number one in the UK.
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Van Gogh dreamed of starting an artists' community in Arles and invited Paul Gauguin to join him. Their stormy friendship lasted only about nine weeks: after a fierce quarrel just before Christmas 1888, Gauguin left Arles for good.
Photo: Louis-Maurice Boutet de Monvel, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain.
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The Red Vineyard was bought for 400 francs in 1890 at an exhibition in Brussels by the Belgian painter Anna Boch, sister of Vincent's friend Eugène Boch. Today it hangs in the Pushkin Museum in Moscow. The 'only one' story is a bit of a myth, though: Vincent also sold some drawings and a few other works, but this is by far his most famous sale.
Photo: Vincent van Gogh, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain.
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Theo van Gogh was a successful art dealer in Paris who introduced Vincent to modern art movements like Impressionism. Theo provided Vincent with a monthly allowance, art supplies, and constant emotional support. Tragically, Theo died just six months after Vincent and is buried right next to him in Auvers-sur-Oise.
Photo: Theo_van_Gogh_(1888).jpg: Ernest Ladrey c.1888 derivative work: Beao, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain.
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Van Gogh moved to Auvers-sur-Oise in May 1890 to be closer to his brother Theo and his physician, Dr. Paul Gachet. During his 70 days in the village, he was incredibly productive, painting roughly one canvas per day until his death that July.
Photo: P.poschadel, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0 fr.
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In 1879, Van Gogh took up a post as a missionary in a poor coal-mining district in Belgium. He showed extreme devotion, giving away his lodgings and clothes to the needy, which actually led to his dismissal by church authorities who found his lifestyle too eccentric. Soon after, he turned his focus entirely to drawing.
Photo: Vincent van Gogh, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain.
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Loving Vincent is the world's first fully painted feature film. Over 100 artists contributed to creating the 65,000 individual oil paintings that make up the animation, using the same brushstroke style as Van Gogh himself. The film took over six years to develop and produce.
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Van Gogh made extensive use of chrome yellow, a relatively new pigment in the 19th century. Unfortunately, chemical reactions triggered by sunlight cause this lead-based pigment to degrade and turn a dull brown over time. Modern museums use specialized LED lighting to slow down this inevitable fading process.
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Van Gogh painted The Starry Night from the window of his room at the Saint-Paul-de-Mausole asylum in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence. Although he painted the scene during the day from memory and imagination, it depicts the pre-dawn view he had from his east-facing bedroom window, complete with an idealized village.
Photo: Vincent van Gogh, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain.
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