Dutch Post-Impressionist Painter, 1853-1890 Vincent Willem van Gogh (30 March 1853 ?C 29 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist artist. Some of his paintings are now among the world's best known, most popular and expensive works of art. Van Gogh spent his early adult life working for a firm of art dealers. After a brief spell as a teacher, he became a missionary worker in a very poor mining region. He did not embark upon a career as an artist until 1880. Initially, Van Gogh worked only with sombre colours, until he encountered Impressionism and Neo-Impressionism in Paris. He incorporated their brighter colours and style of painting into a uniquely recognizable style, which was fully developed during the time he spent at Arles, France. He produced more than 2,000 works, including around 900 paintings and 1,100 drawings and sketches, during the last ten years of his life. Most of his best-known works were produced in the final two years of his life, during which time he cut off part of his left ear following a breakdown in his friendship with Paul Gauguin. After this he suffered recurrent bouts of mental illness, which led to his suicide. The central figure in Van Gogh's life was his brother Theo, who continually and selflessly provided financial support. Their lifelong friendship is documented in numerous letters they exchanged from August 1872 onwards. Van Gogh is a pioneer of what came to be known as Expressionism. He had an enormous influence on 20th century art, especially on the Fauves and German Expressionists.  Related Paintings of Vincent Van Gogh :. | Poppies | Head of a Peasant Woman with White Cap (nn04) | Cineraria in a Flowerpot (nn04) | Vincent van Gogh, pastel drawing by Henri de Toulouse Lautrec | Still life with a plate of onions |
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Benjamin Constant
1767-1830 French-Swiss novelist and political writer. He had a tumultuous 12-year relationship with Germaine de Staël, whose views influenced him to support the French Revolution and subsequently to oppose Napoleon, for which he was exiled (1803 C 14). He later served in the Chamber of Deputies (1819 C 30). Adolphe (1816) was a forerunner of the modern psychological novel.
Cornelisz van Haarlem
1562-1638 Dutch Cornelisz van Haarlem Galleries Dutch painter and draughtsman. He came from a wealthy family. During the Spanish siege and occupation of Haarlem (1572-7), his parents moved elsewhere, leaving their son and large house in the protection of the painter Pieter Pietersz. (1540/41-1603), who became Cornelis's teacher. In 1579 Cornelis travelled to France by sea, but the journey terminated at Rouen because of an outbreak of plague. He then became a pupil of Gillis Congnet in Antwerp, with whom he stayed for one year. In 1580-81 he returned permanently to Haarlem, and in 1583 he received his first official commission from the city, a militia company portrait, the Banquet of the Haarlem Civic Guard (Haarlem, Frans Halsmus.). Around 1584 he befriended Hendrick Goltzius and Karel van Mander, with whom he is said to have established a kind of academy.
MORETTO da Brescia
Italian High Renaissance Painter, 1498-1554 Italian painter. Together with Romanino and Giovanni Girolamo Savoldo, he was one of the most distinguished painters of Brescia of the 16th century. Influenced by both Lombard verism and contemporary Venetian painters, Moretto created an individual style in which realism and Venetian light and colour were perfectly balanced. He was personally involved in the local movement of Roman Catholic reform, and this is reflected in his direct, solemn and often moving depictions of religious subjects.