Vincent van Gogh

Vincent van Gogh was born in Groot-Zundert, the Netherlands, the son of a pastor. He worked for an art dealer, as a teacher, and as a lay preacher among poor coal miners in Belgium before deciding at twenty-seven to become an artist. His early paintings, such as The Potato Eaters, use dark earth colors to show peasant life. In 1886 he moved to Paris to live with his brother Theo, an art dealer who supported him with money and encouragement throughout his life. There he discovered Impressionism and Japanese prints, and his colors brightened. In 1888 he moved to Arles in the south of France, painting sunflowers, orchards and wheat fields in blazing yellows and blues. The painter Paul Gauguin joined him, but they quarreled, and in December 1888, during a mental crisis, Vincent cut off part of his ear. He then entered an asylum at Saint-Rémy, where he painted The Starry Night in 1889. In about ten years he made around 860 oil paintings and more than 1,200 drawings, but sold very few. He died from a gunshot wound in Auvers-sur-Oise in 1890.

Faith: Son of a Dutch Reformed pastor; he spent time as a Protestant missionary in Belgium. Source: Wikipedia