Vincent van Gogh's Biography

Vincent van Gogh was a 19th-century Dutch painter and one of the most influential figures in the history of modern Western art. Known for legendary paintings like The Starry Night, Sunflowers, and even his own self-portrait, his post-impressionist style was defined by vibrant colors and expressive brushstrokes that make his paintings extraordinarily vivid.

Van Gogh was plagued by mental illness throughout his life, experiencing psychotic and depressive episodes throughout adulthood, and in one of the crueler twists in art history he was considered a failure during his lifetime. It wasn’t until after his suicide in 1890 that his paintings became popular, and he is now considered by many to be one of the greatest painters of all time.

Vincent van Gogh was a heavy drinker (in fact, he was unhealthy in just about every way it’s possible to be), and like many of the bohemians of his day, absinthe was his drink of choice. He was known to slug it down in prodigious amounts, and it featured in a number of his paintings, such as Still Life with Glass of Absinthe and a Carafe (1887).