Not a Romantic Starry Night: Last few years of Vincent Van Gogh through his paintings

When we hear the name Vincent Van Gogh, most of our minds will immediately think of the famous painting “Starry Night” even before thinking about any self-portrait of him. Looking at a vast starry sky, we feel a sense of awe, and have the urge to romanticize our own life. Maybe Van Gogh wanted to feel the same, but he never got the chance to do so for all the adversities he had to go through, unlike any other ordinary people.

The Dutch painter, Vincent Willem Van Gogh (1853-1890) was not any type of artist when he was young.

Vincent Van Gogh, a painting by John Peter Russell, 1886 

To afford the basic necessities one needs to survive in life, he used to work different jobs. After getting kicked out of his work one day, he started wandering around countries in search of jobs; while also sometimes painting his surroundings, or sometimes painting people. At the age of 27, the starving Vincent finally decided to embrace his identity as an artist and went to France in 1886 to pursue impressionism.

Potato Eaters (1885):

Potato Eaters

In this painting, Vincent tried to depict the harsh reality of a poor’s household in the countryside. Bony visage, unkempt appearance, and lack of proper light source in the room show the struggles of the poor who manage to get only a little to eat after a whole day's manual work.

People of Vincent’s time did not like this painting of his, but at that time he claimed it as the best painting he had done.

The Red Vineyard (1888):

The Red Vineyard

The art style of Van Gogh is very unique; it is not photorealism, rather the brush strokes look like he liked putting paint on canvas as his hand and mind guided him. However, at that time, it was the age of impressionism. Because of this, people thought his artworks were not worthy of any attention. So to survive he could only trade his paintings for supplies and food.

Anna Boch, a Belgian painter

Until one day, the sister of a friend of Vincent, Anna Boch insisted on buying a painting from him, which was “The Red Vineyard”. This way the painting became his first sold painting…and the only one he could ever sell in his lifetime.

Self-portrait with Bandaged Ear (1889):

Self-portrait with Bandaged Ear

Unlike Vincent, his brother who was named Theodorus Van Gogh (Theo in short), used to be a successful art dealer in France. Through him, Vincent Van Gogh met other contemporary impressionists such as Camille Pissarro, Paul Gaugin. But even after getting help from his younger brother, his financial state had not improved a bit. Vincent then eventually started falling into depression because of his failing career; and resorted to alcohol and tobacco consumption. He started eating less and less just so he could afford his other supplies for painting. Unsurprisingly, both his physical and mental health started deteriorating.

The painting “Self-portrait with Bandaged Ear” was painted by Vincent Van Gogh after he cut off his own ear. Many believe he did it because he was pushed to extremes by his alcohol addiction. Some also say that he cut his ear in a fit of mania after having a fight with his fellow artist Paul Gaugin. But the most eccentric of it all is the fact that he then gifted the ear to a lady from a nearby brothel as a token of affection.

Courtyard of the Hospital in Arles (1889):

Courtyard of the Hospital in Arles

This beautiful painting of a courtyard that belonged to a hospital in Arles, France, is actually the mental asylum Vincent Van Gogh was taken to shortly after he had cut his ear. In this asylum, Vincent started drawing and painting different things from the surroundings which are now paintings worth millions. For example, some of the paintings are Irises, Women picking Olives, Tree trunks with Ivy, etc. The asylum is the place where he had created countless masterpieces before his life’s end.

The Starry Night (1889):

The Starry Night

I believe there is not a soul in the world with access to any type of news source who doesn’t know about this masterpiece of Van Gogh. Even if you are not interested in art, you must have still come across this masterpiece at least once. People use this painting as a reference for so many things; gifts, decorations inspired by this very painting, and so on. The contrast of the perfect amount of blue and yellow hue captivates hearts, making them enter a dream world of a starry sky. The unique brush strokes and painting style at that time was very different, too different to be appreciated and evaluate the worth of this suffering artist.

Comparison of "The Starry Night" with Saint-Remy in 2022

This painting too was one of the paintings from his time at the asylum in Arles.

The location in this painting is Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, and the building-like structure is the town of the commune. He had painted the view from his room which is now known as the Starry Night. Though, the painting looks more like a dream than something from real life, which makes it more fascinating.

Sorrowing Old Man(1890):

The Sorrowing Man (At Eternity's Gate)

Sorrowing Old Man, Also known as “At Eternity’s Gate”, was painted in May 1890. It was one of the last paintings he had made before taking his own life at the end of July of the same year. 

The painting depicts a weeping man sitting on a chair with his face in his hand, and the meaning of this painting is very conspicuous. With all the suffering and devastation he had felt all his life, his failed career, others’ negligence, we can see the helplessness clearly in this painting. Balding man alone, suffering in a room; Vincent tried to convey all the tragic emotions he felt by doing what he could do best: art.

Vase with poppies and daisies (1890)

The man whose life had become black and white day by day had all the hues in his mind and imagination which he could only pour onto his canvases with every single brush stroke. Even though this talented artist had a short life, he has approximately created 2,100 artworks, and most of those date from the last two years of his life.

Vincent Van Gogh’s story tells us that his uniqueness and his discrete way of doing things did not help him flourish in his time. Only if he could know how much appreciated his works and effort would be after a century, even by the people of the same place who degraded him. 

“Someday death will take us to another star”— maybe after death he could finally feel free and gaze at the stars with peace in his heart.