Vincent van Gogh's Milestones
Birth
Vincent van Gogh was born in Groot-Zundert, Netherlands, to Theodorus van Gogh and Anna Cornelia Carbentus.
Early education and family
Received home education, attended boarding schools in Zevenbergen and Tilburg; unhappy childhood, began drawing early.
Worked as art dealer
Worked for art dealers Goupil & Cie in The Hague, London, and Paris; early exposure to the art world.
Religious studies and teaching
Worked as a teacher and minister's assistant in England; became increasingly religious and aspired to be a pastor.
Lay preacher and missionary
Served as a missionary in the Borinage coal-mining district in Belgium; lived in poverty and was dismissed for extreme devotion.
Decided to become an artist
Decided to pursue art full-time, encouraged by his brother Theo; briefly studied at the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts in Brussels.
Early artistic development
Returned to Etten, developed drawing skills, fell in love with cousin Kee Vos-Stricker (unrequited); studied with Anton Mauve in The Hague; lived with Sien Hoornik.
Moved to Nuenen
Lived with parents in Nuenen; painted rural life, created The Potato Eaters; father's death in 1885.
Moved to Antwerp
Moved to Antwerp, studied at Academy of Fine Arts, broadened palette, suffered illness and poverty.
Moved to Paris
Moved to Paris, lived with Theo; met Impressionists and Neo-Impressionists, adopted brighter palette, befriended Gauguin, Toulouse-Lautrec, Signac.
Artistic breakthrough in Arles
Moved to Arles, created masterpieces including Sunflowers, The Night Café, Bedroom in Arles; hoped to found an artists' colony.
Collaboration and conflict with Gauguin
Lived and painted with Paul Gauguin in Arles; relationship ended after quarrels and Van Gogh's mental crisis.
Severe mental health crisis
Suffered breakdown, cut off part of his ear, hospitalized in Arles; periods of lucidity and relapse.
Admitted to asylum in Saint-Rémy
Voluntarily entered Saint-Paul-de-Mausole asylum; created The Starry Night and many other works despite recurring mental illness.
Exhibited at Les XX and recognized
Exhibited at Les XX in Brussels and the Société des Artistes Indépendants in Paris; received praise from Monet and others.
Moved to Auvers-sur-Oise
Moved to Auvers-sur-Oise near Dr. Paul Gachet for care; painted 70+ works in final weeks, including Wheatfield with Crows and Portrait of Dr. Gachet.
Death
Vincent van Gogh died in Auvers-sur-Oise, France, at age 37, two days after a self-inflicted gunshot wound; buried in Auvers cemetery.