While still in school, Van Gogh worked mainly in watercolor; few of these paintings surviving and gaining recognition. Throughout the next few years of his life, he began seeking commission work, starting with his uncle, a well renowned art gallery owner in Amsterdam. During this time, some of Van Goghs first master pieces were created, studying single figures in black and white, and experimenting with many different drawing materials. Later in 1883, Van Gogh began to draw multi-figure compositions, turning to the Hague School for further technical support in his works. After studying at the Hague School, Van Gogh began creating large sized paintings, destroying almost all of them except for The Potato Eaters and its companion pieces The Cottage and The Old Tower, the two pictured here:
Self Portraits
Over the course of 3 years, Van Gogh had also painted 37 self portraits. These portraits vary portraying Van Gogh with and without a beard, with bandages from severing his own ear, and the most known, with a yellow straw hat. His most famous self portrait was sold for over $71.5 million dollars and is the most expensive paintings of all time, being his last self portrait and a gift to his mother for her birthday.
Vincent Van Gogh suffered from mental illness and took his own life in 1890, with a self inflicted gunshot wound to the head. Van Gogh experienced many episodes of depression throughout his life followed by frequent, paralyzing anxiety and symptoms of bipolar disorder. When thinking of Van Gogh, people more often associate him with the incident of cutting off his own ear, The act of killing himself all together is associated with his depression, ending the life of a legend.
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