What the Artist Saw: Vincent van Gogh

Vincent van Gogh (1853 — 1890) was a Dutch post-impressionist painter who posthumously became one of the most famous and influential figures in the history of Western art. In a decade, he created about 2,100 artworks, including around 860 oil paintings, most of which date from the last two years of his life. They include landscapes, still lifes, portraits and self-portraits, and are characterized by bold colors and dramatic, impulsive and expressive brushwork that contributed to the foundations of modern art. He was not commercially successful, and his death at 37 came after years of mental illness, depression and poverty. Today, van Gogh is one of the most widely recognized and celebrated artists in the world.