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Violent-tempered son of a Dutch parson, Vincent van Gogh was first ambitious to enter the Church. After an unsuccessful attempt to fit into the sedate art firm of Goupil et Cie, he finally got himself made a lay reader, worked as a missionary in Belgium until his passion for giving away his money, his clothes, even his bed, ended in his dismissal. He began to draw, painfully teaching himself as he went along, sending his sketches to his only friend, his younger brother Theo. Though a moderately successful dealer, Theo van Gogh kept himself poor supporting Vincent, buying him paints, oils, canvas.
Artistically, it was not until after he left Paris, where he had made a footling attempt to imitate the Impressionists, and settled in the warm sunlight of Arles that Vincent van Gogh found himself. Living with Artist Paul Gaugin (who was yet to make his name in the South Seas), van Gogh's mind and palette went off in pinwheels and rockets of reckless color. He painted sunflowers and fishing boats, postmen, prostitutes, and frequently himself (see cut p. 23) with an exuberance that makes most van Gogh canvases seem ready to leap off the wall. His first detention in an insane asylum occurred after he cut off his right ear, presented it to a prostitute to whom he was unable to give a five-franc tip.
Later he seemed better and was released in care of a doctor and his brother Theo. On July 27, 1890 he picked up a revolver, started to threaten the doctor but wandered away and shot himself clumsily in the stomach. Death did not come until after long, painful hours. His last words to Brother Theo: "Did you ever know such an awkward and helpless fellow as me?"
* Longmans, Green ($2.50).