Vincent van Gogh

Vincent van Gogh was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter and one of the most influential figures in Western art. In just over a decade he produced around 2,100 works, including some 860 oil paintings, most created in the final two years of his life. His landscapes, still lifes, portraits, and self-portraits, characterized by bold color and dramatic, impulsive brushwork, helped lay the foundations of modern art. Born into an upper-middle-class minister's family, he was serious, sensitive, and introspective, working first as an art dealer before turning to religion and serving as a Protestant missionary in southern Belgium. Years of poor health, poverty, and isolation culminated in severe mental illness and his suicide at 37. Almost unknown while alive, he was later recognized as a pioneer of modern painting; works like The Starry Night, Sunflowers, and his self-portraits have become some of the most iconic images in global visual culture.