2 0 1 1 年北京国际图书博览会
Country of Honour
The Netherlands
主宾国 荷兰

Vincent van Gogh

A Life in Letters

Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890) was born in Zundert in the south of the Netherlands. After deciding to become an artist in 1880, he spent the first five years of his career in Holland painting landscapes and peasants in dark colours. In 1886 he moved to Paris to live with his art-dealer brother Theo, who introduced him to Impressionist and Pointillist painting. His palette brightened dramatically and he experimented with modern styles. In 1888 Van Gogh moved to Arles in the south of France, where he worked in isolation. Van Gogh suffered his first mental breakdown in December 1888; he committed himself to the asylum in St Rémy, where he stayed for a year, continuing to paint and draw profusely. His paintings started to win acclaim, but Van Gogh was deeply frustrated by the recurrent bouts of his mental illness. He died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound on 29 July 1890, in Auvers-sur-Oise, France.