There are some people whose names are known all around the world. Even those who have no connection to their field of expertise have heard of them. Just as people who do not know football still recognise Pelé or Ronaldinho, and regardless of musical taste people know the names of Bach and Mozart, there is one name in the world of art that everyone knows – whether or not they are familiar with his paintings. That name, of course, is Vincent van Gogh.

For the very first issue of Alla Prima, we have dedicated the ‘Artist’s Corner’ to Vincent van Gogh. Let us get to know the creative world of this artist, one of the pioneers of Post-Impressionism, who managed to sell only one painting during his lifetime.

On 30 March 1852, a housewife named Anna Cornelia Carbentus gave birth to a baby boy. They named him Vincent Willem van Gogh. But this Vincent was not the world-famous Vincent Willem van Gogh known as a pioneer of the Post-Impressionism movement. This Vincent had been born exactly one year before the famous painter. According to some sources, he was stillborn; according to others, he died shortly after birth. This event was a heavy blow to the family, and their deeply religious worldview caused them to experience the loss even more profoundly.

Never forgetting this loss, Anna Cornelia gave birth to another baby boy exactly one year later, on 30 March 1853. She named this child after the son she had lost – Vincent Willem van Gogh. Thus, the second Vincent entered the world with a shadow of melancholy and darkness already upon him. Perhaps the psychological troubles he would later face began in childhood, when every year on his birthday he saw a gravestone bearing his own name.

Vincent’s childhood was quiet and solitary. He was an introverted child who preferred nature, animals, and reading books over playing with other children. His father, Theodorus van Gogh, was the Protestant pastor of their village. Growing up in a religious environment, Vincent developed an early interest in God and spirituality.

His first interest in art came from his mother. Anna Cornelia was an amateur painter herself and encouraged young Vincent to play with paper and pencil from an early age.

Van Gogh stayed with his family until he was eleven years old, after which he was sent to various schools for his education. He first studied in Zevenbergen and then in the city of Tilburg. It was in Tilburg that he first began studying drawing seriously. But his time in school did not last long – he left his studies at the age of 15 due to the family’s financial difficulties and entered working life.

At 16, with encouragement from his family, he began working at an art dealership in The Hague called Goupil & Cie. This gallery was one of the most well-known art agencies in Europe, and it was there that Vincent became exposed to many types of paintings. His years there deepened his love for art, but also distanced him from people who treated art purely as a business. In 1876, he left the job and tried to return to a life of religious devotion.

During this period, Vincent aspired to become a missionary and went to help poor families in Belgium’s mining region. But even here he clashed with church authorities. Vincent lived in poverty himself, wearing shoes that were falling apart, and this drew criticism from the clergy. Eventually, he was dismissed from missionary work.

Despite these setbacks, Vincent had now come to recognise the creative fire within him. At the age of 27 – considered late by some – he seriously committed himself to painting. In the early years, he drew with charcoal and pencil, depicting rural life, poor people, labourers, and everyday scenes. His 1885 painting The Potato Eaters is considered his first major work to survive to this day.

However, Vincent’s mental state never truly stabilised. Since childhood, he had experienced depression, loneliness, and inner turmoil. Nevertheless, in 1886, he moved to Paris and met several Impressionist painters, including Paul Gauguin, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, and Camille Pissarro. Their use of colour and light transformed Vincent’s approach to painting.

Tired of the fast pace of life in Paris, Vincent moved in 1888 to the town of Arles in southern France. There, he lived and painted in a small house known as the ‘Yellow House’. Shortly afterwards, his friend Gauguin came to live with him. But tensions quickly arose between them. As a result, Vincent’s psychological condition worsened dramatically, and in December 1888, the famous incident occurred – he cut off part of his own left ear.