Vincent Willem van Gogh (30 March 1853 – 29 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist artist. His paintings and drawings include some of the world's best known, most popular and most expensive pieces.
Van Gogh spent his early adult life working for a firm of art dealers. After a brief spell as a teacher, he became a missionary worker in a very poor mining region. He did not embark upon a career as an artist until 1880. Initially, van Gogh worked only with sombre colours, until he encountered Impressionism and Neo-Impressionism in Paris. He incorporated their brighter colours and style of painting into a uniquely recognizable style, which was fully developed during the time he spent at Arles, France. He produced more than 2,000 works, including around 900 paintings and 1,100 drawings and sketches, during the last ten years of his life.¹
Recommended books on Van Gogh: Complete Letters of Vincent Van Gogh by van Gogh (3 Volumes, Hardcover - February 1, 2000);
Vincent Van Gogh: The Drawings (Metropolitan Museum of Art Series) (Hardcover) by Colta Ives, Susan Alyson Stein, Sjraar van Heugten, Marije Vellekoop;
The Letters of Vincent van Gogh (Penguin Classics) (Paperback) by Vincent Van Gogh, Ronald de Leeuw (Editor), Arnold J. Pomerans (Translator);
Van Gogh and Gauguin: The Studio of the South by Douglas Druick; Van Gogh's Van Goghs by Richard Kendall; Van Gogh in Provence and Auvers by Bogomila Welsh-Ovcharov;
Van Gogh, Face to Face: The Portraits by Joseph J. Rishel.