Vincent Van Gogh (30 March 1853 – 29 July 1890)
In 1926 an American
young man visited Paris. He happened to see Van Gogh
paintings in Rosen burg Gallery. Irving Stone, the American
young man had not heard of the Dutch artist Van Gogh
till then. He was so impressed by the beauty and elegance
of the paintings that he stood aghast before them for
a long time. He never had such a wonderful experience
before. Irving Stone visited all the places where the
artist spent 37 years of his short life. He did extensive
research on Van Gogh's life and discovered to his dismay
that the artist did most of his master pieces while
passing through his moments of lunacy and that he committed
suicide due to frustration in life. He could not find
buyers for his paintings and was leading a miserable
life in utter poverty. Only his younger brother Theo
realized that Vincent was a genius would certainly get
due recognition one day in future. He encouraged his
brother in the pursuit of his art and sent him money.
He gave Vincent paints and canvas though Theo himself
was very poor. Van Gogh in return send his paintings
to Theo advising him to arrange for their sale. Van
Gogh's letters to his brother were later published in
three volumes. They are considered to be Van Gogh's
greatest contribution to world literature. Irving Stone's
research on the artist's life bore fruit in the form
of a Novel titled "Lust for Life". With the popularity
of the novel soaring high, the greatness of the artist
became well known to the world outside. Van Gogh died
on July 29th 1890. He shot at himself with his Revolver
and embraced death voluntarily. Unable to bear the grief,
his brother,Theo, too died after four months.Gradually,
Van Gogh' paintings started receiving the attention
of art lovers. Private parties , Art Galleries and Institutions
purchased them at fabulous prices. In 1940 exactly after
50 years of his death, two million people visited the
exhibition of Van Gogh paintings held at Museum of Modern
Arts in New York. Some of his paintings sold for millions
of Dollars. Before the exhibition, the paintings were
insured for 3000 million dollars. Nobody cared for this
great artist during his life time.They did not know
the real worth of the artist then as Van Gogh was ahead
of his time like all great men who walked on this earth.
Stars that twinkle and wink at us today were perhaps
shining in the sky a hundred years back. But they capture
our attention or come within our eye sight only now.
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