Vincent Van Gogh （1853—1890） was a wellknown Dutch Post-Impressionist（后印象派）painter who is among the most famous and influential1 artists in the world. In just over a decade2 he created about 2，100 artworks， including around 860 oil paintings（油畫(huà)）， most of them in the last two years of his life. They include landscapes3， still lifes， portraits4 and self-portraits. Van Goghs works are now among the worlds most expensive paintings.

文森特·梵高（1853—1890），荷蘭著名后印象派畫(huà)家。作為世界上最有影響力的藝術(shù)家，在短短10余年時(shí)間里，他創(chuàng)作了2100多幅作品，包括860多幅油畫(huà)。其中大部分是在他生命的最后兩年創(chuàng)作的。作品包括風(fēng)景畫(huà)、靜物畫(huà)、肖像畫(huà)和自畫(huà)像。梵高的作品是世界上最昂貴的畫(huà)作之一。

Early Life

Van Gogh was born in an upper middle class family. As a young man he worked as an art dealer5， often traveling. But he became depressed6 after he relocated（遷移） to London. In order to find peace， he turned to religion7 and spent time as a missionary（傳教士）in southern Belgium where he started to sketch8 people from the local community， and in 1885， he painted his first major work The Potato Eaters.

France

The experience in France was especially important for Van Gogh. In March 1886， he moved to Paris. He met many artists and he was able to learn a lot from them. Later， he chose to live in Arles， a city in south France and was influenced by the strong sunlight there. His paintings grew brighter in color， and he developed the unique and highly recognizable style.

Van Gogh invited his friend Paul Gauguin， also known as the famous painter， to work with him in Arles. Van Gogh admired9 Gauguin and wanted to be treated equally， but Gauguin was arrogant10 and bossy11. Their relationship soured. They quarreled a lot about art during that period. Gauguin left Arles after serious fights， and they never saw each other for the rest of their lives.

Mental Illness

This incident12 was the first serious sign of the mental health problems that were to influence Van Gogh for the remaining days of his life. He fought hard between depression and artistic activity. On May 9， 1889， he asked to be admitted13 to a hospital for the mentally ill. During the year Van Gogh spent at the hospital he worked as much as he had in Arles， producing 150 paintings and hundreds of drawings. His work reflected14 the intense15 colors and strong light of the countryside around him.

His Brother Theo

The most comprehensive16 source for understanding Van Gogh is the collection of letters between him and his younger brother， and， art dealer Theo Van Gogh. Theo provided17 his brother with financial and emotional support. The brothers lifelong friendship， and most of what is known of Vincents thoughts and theories of art， are recorded in the hundreds of letters exchanged between 1872 and 1890. There are more than 600 from Vincent to Theo， and 40 from Theo to Vincent.

Genius Fall

Van Gogh went to Paris on May 17， 1890， to visit his brother， Theo. At first， Van Gogh enjoyed the life there， but toward the end of June he started to lose his temper18. On July 27， he shot himself in a lonely field and died two days later. At the age of 37， following years of mental illness and poverty19， Van Gogh finally found his peace.

As we all know， Van Gogh was not commercially20 successful during his lifetime. He remained poor and unknown and was considered a madman and a failure. After his death， his reputation began to grow and his paintings started to gain value. Van Gogh is now viewed as one of the most influential artists in the development of modern art. The Starry Night he once drew with his passion and love is now the enlightened star toward the mysterious world of art for endless artists.

早期生活

梵高出生在一個(gè)中產(chǎn)階級(jí)家庭。年輕時(shí)，他做過(guò)畫(huà)行經(jīng)紀(jì)人，經(jīng)常出差。被調(diào)到倫敦工作后，新環(huán)境讓他變得抑郁。為了找尋內(nèi)心的平和，他投身宗教信仰，并在比利時(shí)南部的小鎮(zhèn)做了一名傳教士。也就是從那時(shí)起，他開(kāi)始以本地居民為原型，創(chuàng)作平凡人的故事。1885年，他繪制了第一部重要作品《吃馬鈴薯的人》 。

法國(guó)經(jīng)歷

在法國(guó)的經(jīng)歷對(duì)梵高來(lái)說(shuō)，彌足珍貴。1886年3月，梵高搬到巴黎，在那認(rèn)識(shí)了很多藝術(shù)家，從他們身上學(xué)到不少東西。 后來(lái)，他選擇在法國(guó)南部的阿爾勒定居。這個(gè)陽(yáng)光明媚的城市給梵高帶來(lái)很多新鮮的靈感。他的作品色調(diào)越來(lái)越明亮，并衍生出被廣泛認(rèn)可的獨(dú)特畫(huà)風(fēng)。

梵高邀請(qǐng)他的朋友保羅·高更到阿爾勒和他一起創(chuàng)作。和梵高一樣，高更也是一位知名畫(huà)家。梵高一直崇拜高更，渴望能夠在高更這里受到平等的尊重，但高更向來(lái)高傲、自負(fù)。合作期間，他們?cè)趧?chuàng)作理念上存在分歧，經(jīng)常吵架，關(guān)系惡化。在無(wú)數(shù)次爭(zhēng)吵之后，高更離開(kāi)了阿爾勒。兩位從此再也沒(méi)見(jiàn)過(guò)面。

精神疾病

這段不愉快的經(jīng)歷是梵高患上嚴(yán)重精神疾病的導(dǎo)火索。疾病困擾著梵高，使他每日都在抑郁和創(chuàng)作之間痛苦周旋。1889年5月9日，梵高因精神病入院。即便是在醫(yī)院，梵高的創(chuàng)作靈感也不輸于他在阿爾勒的時(shí)期。他創(chuàng)作了150幅油畫(huà)和數(shù)百幅素描作品。他的作品折射出鄉(xiāng)村風(fēng)光明亮的顏色和強(qiáng)烈的光線。

弟弟提奧

世人對(duì)梵高的了解大多來(lái)源于他和弟弟提奧·梵高之間的書(shū)信。提奧是一名畫(huà)行經(jīng)紀(jì)人，一直是梵高的經(jīng)濟(jì)和精神支柱。梵高兄弟之間一生的友情，以及梵高對(duì)藝術(shù)的想法和理解，都被收錄在1872年至1890年期間的數(shù)百封書(shū)信中。其中600多封是梵高寫(xiě)給提奧的，40封是提奧寫(xiě)給梵高的。

天才隕落

1890年5月17日，梵高去巴黎拜訪他的弟弟提奧。起初，梵高很喜歡那里的生活，但進(jìn)入6月下旬，他的情緒越來(lái)越不穩(wěn)定。7月27日，他在一片孤寂的田野開(kāi)槍自殺，兩天后離世。年僅37歲的梵高，在被疾病和貧窮困擾數(shù)年后，終于找到了內(nèi)心的平和。

眾所周知，梵高這一生在商業(yè)上并未取得什么成就。他一生清貧，默默無(wú)聞，還被外界視為瘋子和失敗者。在他死后，他的名氣才逐漸擴(kuò)大，作品的藝術(shù)價(jià)值開(kāi)始被世人認(rèn)可。如今，梵高被認(rèn)為是現(xiàn)代藝術(shù)發(fā)展中最有影響力的藝術(shù)家之一。那幅他曾用熱情與愛(ài)勾勒的油畫(huà)《星空夜》，也為無(wú)數(shù)懷揣夢(mèng)想的藝術(shù)家點(diǎn)亮了通往神秘藝術(shù)國(guó)度的啟明星。