The Thirty-Six Million Dollar Painting

The Red Vineyard courtesy www.awesomestories.com. 

Dutch painter Vincent Van Gogh was born on this day in 1853.  Here are ten facts you may not know about the famous artist.

1.  Vincent Van Gogh was self-taught and only attended art classes four years before his death.

2.  He was the son of a Dutch Reformed minister named Rev. Theodorus Van Gogh.

3.  He was good friends with fellow painter Paul Gaugin.

4.  He wrote over 800 letters in his lifetime, mainly to his brother Theo.

5.  Early in his career, he painted peasants because he could not afford to pay much for his models.  Later he stuck to painting landscapes and flowers.

Wheatfield with Crows courtesy upload.wikimedia.org. 

6.  Van Gogh was considered to be a Post-Impressionist.

7.  The Dutch artist painted 900 paintings and drew 1100 sketches in his short lifetime.

8.  Despite the proficiency of his art work, Van Gogh only sold one painting in his lifetime called Red Vineyard.  After his death, he became famous.  Starry Night is today his most famous painting.  On March 30, 1987, Sunflowers became his most precious painting selling for over $36 million.

Sunflowers courtesy upload.wikimedia.org. 

9.  Van Gogh was supported financially most of his life by his brother Theo.

10.  He suffered from temporal lobe epilepsy, halllucinations and mental illness.  He committed suicide at the young age of 37.

Starry Night courtesy www.theredheadriter.com.