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Posted to the UK and Europe in Days Vincent Van Gogh was born in Groot-Zundert, Netherlands, son of a small town preacher. He began his working life employed by Groupil & Cie, an international art dealer, but then left to consider a career with the church as his religious zeal grew. In 1879, having grown disenchanted with both formal religious education and the evangelist path, he decided to become an arist. Over the course of the next ten years, before he took his own life, he produced an enormous body of work. While it is not quite true that he never sold a piece of art, during his lifetime his primary supporters were his brother Theo and other artists. Van Gogh also relied on Theo for financial support. While some art historians question how much of Van Gogh current popularity is due to romantic mythology around the "insane genius", his work is unquestionably powerful and unique. His use of paint was extremely physical (it is a shame one cannot get a sense of the thick, powerful, green swirls around the head in the above self-portrait)-- a benefit of never having learned painting, he wrote his brother in 1882 -- and his artistic style is as intense and intelligent as his writings. Among other painters, he greatly respected Millet, Delacroix, and Daumier.
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