Remembering the misunderstood genius of his time on his birth anniversary

March 30, On This Day

The Dutch post-impressionist painter Vincent Willem van Gogh was born on 30^th March,1853 in Groot-Zundert, Netherland. He’s considered to be one of the most famous and influential figures in western art history and his paintings are amongst the most popular and recognizable artworks in history. He has about 2100 artworks, including 860 oil paintings to his credit. All his paintings were characterized by bold colours and dramatic brushwork that revolutionized art.

Some of his iconic paintings include Sunflowers, The Starry Night, Café terrace at Night, Forest Interior. These art pieces turned out to become iconic symbols not only for a single artist rather a whole time period but only after his death in 1890. He also painted various portraits and self-portraits too. The portraits at the time gave Van Gogh his best opportunity to earn. He created more than 43 self-portraits between 1885 & 1889.

During his lifetime he was commercially unsuccessful and was considered to be a failure. After his suicide, he came to be known as a misunderstood genius in the public imagination and his style came to be incorporated by the Fauves and German Expressionists.

Van Gogh’s paintings are among the world’s most expensive paintings in recent times. A museum named Van Gogh Museum was inaugurated in the year 1973 in Amsterdam and became the second most popular museum in Netherland. It holds the world’s largest collection of his paintings and drawings.