Amazing, incredibly deep and remaining largely incomprehensible, Vincent Van Gogh was and remains an unsurpassed post-impressionist artist, in whose paintings one can feel the incredible energy, vitality and passion of his contradictory nature.

An unsurpassed colorist, in his paintings Van Gogh conveys incredible energy, vitality and temperament. A genius and a madman who worked with manic persistence, he fiercely sought mastery, but, having acquired it, he went crazy. He shot himself with a revolver and died two days later. After Van Gogh's death, the price of his works soared to $100 million, although before that they did not want to give a penny for them. In his entire life, the artist was able to sell only one painting - “Red Vineyards in Arles.”

Most recently, at an auction in New York, Vincent van Gogh’s painting “Still Life. Vase with daisies and poppies,” created by the master at the end of his life, was sold for $61.8 million. According to the report, this amount exceeded the painting’s mark at the Sotheby’s auction, which was up to $50 million, notes korrespondent.net.

Note that Van Gogh painted the painting in the French house of his doctor a few months before his death, in 1890. This work was one of the few sold during his life. However, the still life did not break the Dutch artist's sales record - the highest price paid for his work was $82.5 million.

According to Sotheby's organizers, the painting was purchased by a private buyer from Asia. At the same time, the portrait of Dr. Gachet - the doctor whose flowers Van Gogh depicted in this last work sold - went under the hammer for a record price in 1990.

At the same time, for the first time in 60 years, two paintings by Van Gogh from the “Sunflowers” ​​series “met” at the National Gallery in London. One of them lives in the gallery permanently, the second was brought from the artist’s museum in Arles. Their total value is about 200 million pounds sterling, or almost $350 million.

They are almost twins, and it is not surprising that the resourceful photographer decided to photograph the twin girls against the background of the paintings. One of the paintings lives in the National Gallery on a permanent basis, the second arrived on tour from the Van Gogh Museum in Arles, France, where both of them were painted. There the artist worked with his friend, the painter Paul Gauguin, writes korrespondent.net.

In August 1888, Van Gogh wrote to his brother Theo: “I draw and paint with the same zeal with which a Marseillean devolves his bouillabaisse, which, of course, will not surprise you - I paint large sunflowers. In the hope that Gauguin and I will have a common workshop, I want to decorate it. Just big sunflowers - nothing more. So, if my plan succeeds, I will have a dozen panels - a whole symphony of yellow and blue. I’ve been working on them early in the morning for several days now: the flowers fade quickly, and everything needs to be grabbed in one sitting.”

On December 23, 1888, the now world-famous post-impressionist artist Vincent Van Gogh lost his ear. There are several versions of what happened, however, Van Gogh’s whole life was full of absurd and very strange facts.

Van Gogh dreamed of becoming a priest, like his father. He even completed the missionary internship required for admission to an evangelical school. He lived in the outback among miners for about a year.

But it turned out that the admission rules had changed, and the Dutch had to pay for training. The missionary Van Gogh was offended and after that decided to leave religion and become an artist. However, his choice was not accidental. Vincent’s uncle was a partner in the largest art dealer company at that time, Goupil.

Van Gogh began to draw in adulthood, when he was 27 years old. Contrary to popular belief, he was not such a “brilliant amateur” like conductor Pirosmani or customs officer Russo. By that time, Vincent Van Gogh was an experienced art dealer and entered first the Academy of Arts in Brussels, and later the Antwerp Academy of Arts. True, he studied there for only three months until he left for Paris, where he met the Impressionists, including Claude Monet.

Van Gogh began with “peasant” paintings like “The Potato Eaters.” But his brother Theo, who knew a lot about art and supported Vincent financially throughout his life, managed to convince him that “light painting” was created for success, and the public would definitely appreciate it.

For more than 10 years, Vincent van Gogh’s “Portrait of Doctor Gachet” held the title of the most expensive painting in the world. Japanese businessman Ryoei Saito, owner of a large paper manufacturing company, purchased this painting at a Christie's auction in 1990 for $82 million. The owner of the painting indicated in his will that the painting should be cremated with him after his death. In 1996, Ryoei Saito died. It is known for certain that the painting was not burned, but where exactly it is now is unknown. It is believed that the artist painted 2 versions of the painting.

However, this is just one fact from the history of “Portrait of Doctor Gachet.” It is known that after the exhibition “Degenerate Art” in Munich in 1938, the Nazi Goering acquired this painting for his collection. True, he soon sold it to a certain Dutch collector, and then the painting ended up in the USA, where it remained until Saito acquired it.

The story with the ear raises doubts among many biographers of Vincent Van Gogh. The fact is that if the artist cut off his ear at the root, he would die from loss of blood. Only the artist's earlobe was cut off. There is a record of this in the surviving medical report.

There is a version that the incident with the cut off ear occurred during a quarrel between Van Gogh and Gauguin. Gauguin, experienced in sailor fights, slashed Van Gogh in the ear, and he had a seizure from stress. Later, trying to whitewash himself, Gauguin came up with a story about how Van Gogh chased him in a fit of madness with a razor and crippled himself.

Unknown paintings by Van Gogh are still being found today.. In 2013, the Vincent Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam identified a new painting by the great master. The painting “Sunset at Montmajour,” according to researchers, was painted by Van Gogh in 1888. What makes the find exceptional is the fact that the painting belongs to a period that art historians consider the pinnacle of the artist’s work. The discovery was made using methods such as comparison of style, paint, technique, computer analysis of the canvas, X-ray photographs and the study of Van Gogh's letters.

Van Gogh's unhappy life and meager creative activity - how many paintings did Van Gogh sell during his lifetime? Brief biographical information of the great post-impressionist. Complex relationships with people and the sensitive soul of an artist.

How many paintings did Van Gogh sell during his lifetime?

If you've ever heard of the famous post-impressionist artist, the author of "Sunflowers" or become acquainted with , you've wondered if it's true that he sold only 1 painting in his life, or maybe the somewhat insane and endlessly talented creator was a little luckier ?

Dutch artist, Vincent Van Gogh, traveled a lot in “searching for himself,” but his heart, for some reason known only to the creator, was always yearning to go home. In the article "" we looked at the origins of Van Gogh's madness. According to the recollections of the governess who taught the child in childhood, Vincent showed the first oddities, which then resulted in insanity. Perhaps the symptoms were reinforced by failures on the personal front that accompanied the artist from London, or perhaps due to a failed artistic career.

According to art historians, Vincent Van Gogh sold 14 paintings during his lifetime , although gossip is spreading around his person, degrading the artist’s status in the eyes of subsequent generations.

Family support and creativity

Vincent Van Gogh loved his mother madly and respected his brother Theo. You can read letters to his brother, in which the artist shares his sincere experiences and observations. After leaving his home, Vincent did not live alone for long, but moved in with his brother and his wife - the French period. In 1890, his brother sponsored the sending of some of Vincent van Gogh's paintings to an exhibition in Brussels. 6 paintings went to look for their authors and one of them, namely "Red Vineyards" was successfully sold for 400 francs sister of the famous Boch, Anna Boch. Today the painting is in the museum named after. A. Pushkin in Moscow. According to Vincent, he was unable to become a promoter and successful dealer in his own paintings due to the special predilection of his admirers.

In a letter to brother Theo:

“Practice in the art trade is based on pricing policy,

which rises significantly after the death of the author.”

Could such an opinion serve as the basis for the creation of the “image of madness” by Vincent Van Gogh himself? This question remains open and requires a detailed study of written documents and biographical facts from the life of the Dutch artist.

Interesting facts from the life of Vincent Van Gogh:

• In childhood tried to become a preacher- I just “tried”, because having gone to the seminary, I soon fell into a deep depression, feeling the full burden of such a life.
• Started drawing at age 27, unexpectedly, independently, to the detriment of everyone. Friends called Vincent a “brilliant amateur.”
• Vincent's Yellow World, according to doctors, consequence of drug exposure from epilepsy to the perception of the surrounding world. They also say that Vincent Van Gogh was fond of absinthe - an explosive thing.
• Vincent van Gogh's paintings are the most stolen paintings: since 2013, we have ranked 10 high-profile thefts and 2 paintings by the artist on this list.
• According to eyewitnesses, Van Gogh and his friend and artist Gauguin had a confrontation in a brothel for a prostitute. And although one can still speculate about the reasons for the incident, the artist cut off his ear precisely after the incident.
• Van Gogh's paintings are still being found– a new original painting was identified in Amsterdam "Sunset at Montmajour." If your ancestors lived in London, the Netherlands or Paris in the 20th century, we recommend rummaging around in the attic.

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