The Mind Creative
In 1881, at the age of 27, Vincent moved in with his parents after
completing nine months of further education in Brussels. He
started teaching himself how to draw and experimented with
different techniques and styles along with different subject
matters. Other areas he worked on mastering were perspective,
shading, and anatomy. Many of his earliest pieces were of peasant
life and he soon became passionate about drawing figures. By
the end of 1881, Vincent started getting trained under Anton
Mauve.
At the same time, Vincent also began a relationship with Sien
Hoornik, a pregnant prostitute with whom he already had one
child out of wedlock. For this, Vincent was deeply shunned by
Mauve and the two fell apart. In 1884 he began working on a
painting called The Potato Eaters which he completed in 1885.
He hoped that this painting would propel him into fame. This
piece did prove to be huge success, but not in his lifetime.
After the failure of The Potato Eaters,
Vincent decided to get some more
professional training and he soon
enrolled into an academy in Antwerp
where he discovered the art of Peter
Paul Rubens and many Japanese
artists. Both these factors would
greatly affect Van Gogh's style in art.
By early 1886, he moved to Paris to
live with his brother Theo and in these
years, Vincent immersed himself in
modern art based influenced by works
of
impressionist
and
postimpressionists. Van Gogh adopted
brighter and vibrant colours for his
Sien With Child - 1882
paintings
began
experimenting
Japanese artwork that he had
discovered earlier.
While in Paris, Vincent met with many famous artists
including: Paul Gauguin, Camille Pissarro, Claude Monet, and
Emile Bernard. Vincent moved to Arles in 1888 where he hoped
to create a school of art with help from his new friends in the
artistic community.
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