It is widely believed that Vincent van Gogh found it hard to stay friends with people, not completely. As an artist Vincent was in the centre of things. He had countless dealings with his fellow painters. He even worked with some of them, with varying degrees of success. Even in…

Van Gogh created his own image of Japan by studying and reading about Japanese art, collecting and copying prints, and discussing their aesthetic qualities with other artists. His encounter with Japanese prints helped him to give his work a new direction. Japanese printmaking was one of Vincent’s main sources of…

Van Gogh entered the Saint-Paul-de-Mausole asylum on 8 May 1889. Some of his works from this time are characterised by swirls, such as The Starry Night. He was allowed short supervised walks, during which time he painted cypresses and olive trees, including Olive Trees with the Alpilles in the Background…

The time in Arles became one of Van Gogh’s more prolific periods: he completed 200 paintings, and more than 100 drawings and watercolours. He was enchanted by the local landscape and light; his works from this period are rich in yellow, ultramarine and mauve. His paintings include harvests, wheat fields…

In Paris, Vincent painted portraits of friends and acquaintances, still life paintings, views of Le Moulin de la Galette, scenes in Montmartre, Asnières and along the Seine. In 1885 in Antwerp he had become interested in Japanese ukiyo-e woodblock prints, and had used them to decorate the walls of his…

During his two-year stay in Nuenen, he completed numerous drawings and watercolours, and nearly 200 oil paintings. His palette consisted mainly of sombre earth tones, particularly dark brown, not in keeping with the bright style of Impressionism, and showed no sign of the vivid colours that distinguish his later work.…

In the summer of 1880, Vincent van gogh decided to become an artist. In the spring of 1881, Vincent moved back in with his parents, who were now living in Etten, also in Brabant. He practised drawing and frequently worked out of doors. In the meantime, his brother Theo had…