Vincent van Gogh didn’t decide to become a painter until he was 27 years old. Before that he’d tried being an art dealer, a teacher, and a preacher, and failed at all of them. In just 10 years of painting he made about 2,100 artworks - including roughly 860 oil paintings.
His style was bold, swirling, and full of thick color. He loved sunflowers, wheat fields, cypress trees, and the night sky. In 1888 he convinced fellow painter Paul Gauguin to live and work with him in the south of France. The friendship blew up after just two months - and in a famous fit, Van Gogh cut off part of his own ear.
During his lifetime he sold only one painting, “The Red Vineyard.” His brother Theo kept supporting him until Vincent died in 1890, age 37. A century later, his paintings sell for record-breaking prices - and reproductions of “Starry Night” hang on bedroom walls all over the world.
