There were also art dealers in his family, his uncles and his beloved brother, Theo, who worked for Goupil and Co in Paris. During his school years he became well versed in literature, including George Elliot and Dickens. Later he became influenced by John Bunyan and the works of Thomas A Kempis, especially his book, 'The Imitation of Christ'. He was well versed in several languages.

Vincent maintained a close relationship with Theo throughout his life, writing many letters about life, faith and art. Vincent sold one painting only and Theo supported him, financially providing paints and canvases.

His first paid work was with Goupil and Co as an art dealer first in The Hague in 1869, where he learnt much about the great Dutch painters and the new Hague School of Social Realism. He was also strongly influenced by the peasant realism of Millet. Then from 1873 to 1875 he transferred to the London Branch, then to the Head Office in Paris until 1876 when he was released from his job. The rejection of love from his host's daughter, whilst in London, led to a crisis and he became disenchanted with the world of art dealers.

From 1876 he was back in London, finding work as a teacher. He also sought comfort from an awakened passion for Christian Faith, studying the Bible and developing a desire for evangelism. He began preaching in Methodist chapels and is said to have carried sermons by Charles Spurgeon in his pockets.

Back in Holland he worked for a short time in a bookshop in Dordrecht in 1877. Then he took a course in evangelism and in 1878 he was accepted to work amongst miners in the Belgian mining district of Borinage. This lasted until 1880 when he was dismissed, largely because he associated too closely with the miners, living in poverty beside them. He had given his accommodation to a homeless person, lived in a hut and slept on straw! Perhaps he also came over as too zealous!

From 1880 he became totally committed to his art. In the ten years to his death in 1890 he completed some 900 paintings: one painting every four days on average, and many drawings and 850 letters!

Van Gogh first went to Brussels, where he produced many drawings, then in 1881 to Etten to live with his parents. In Etten he fell in love again but again he was refused which led to another personal crisis.

His next move was to The Hague and there he produced his first paintings from about 1882. Here he was influenced by the artist Anton Mauve, 1838 -1888, a younger artist. In The Hague he met Sien, a prostitute who was expecting her second child. He tried to care for her and lived briefly with her. But again this ended in disaster, the situation was untenable. Until 1885 he was first in Drenthe and then again with his parents in Brabant. His father died in 1885. 'The Potato Eaters' of 1885 was the major work of this period.

In 1886 he was briefly in Antwerp, inspired by Rubens and also the Japanese prints which he saw and bought there. He quickly moved on to Paris to live with Theo's family. He was inspired by the work of the Impressionists, Pissarro, Seurat, Gauguin and Bernard amongst others and spent time in the Louvre. He painted furiously in Paris completing many canvases, maybe almost 200.

In 1888 he went to Arles seeking the colour and light of the south. He again painted with zealous intensity. The Series of 'Sunflowers', 'Self Portraits', 'Cafe Terrace' , 'Vincent's Bedroom', 'Harvest Landscape', 'The Sower' all come from 1888. From October to December 1888 Gauguin joined him in The Yellow house in Arles. Van Gogh's idea was to form a brotherhood of artists. He bought 12 chairs. Gauguin was to be their leader. Failure again, with Van Gogh threatening Gauguin with a razor and then proceeding to cut his own ear giving it to a servant girl at a brothel. Gauguin moved out.

At this point Van Gogh's health seriously deteriorated. He began to have psychotic episodes, suffering with delusions and depression. He may have suffered too with epilepsy. What is important to know is that he also had periods of seeming normality, and during these times he painted with his usual intensity. However his illness left its mark on his paintings which became more agitated and his colours colder. His 'Starry Night' came from this period and he painted blue irises not sunflowers. At this time he occasionally returned to religious themes such as his 'Raising of Lazarus' based on a Rembrandt work. 'The Sower' became a religious work, a statement about death and new life. The sun that dominates the painting is a symbol of Christ. It is clear that his paintings of this time and his letters show a lucidity of mind and temporary stability. He agreed to take treatment in an asylum at Saint Remy.

In May 1890, on Theo's advice, he moved to Auvers, near Paris and placed himself under the care of Dr Gachet. His letters show that he wrestled, at this time, with the meaning of life. In church he heard a sermon on the text 'For now we see through a glass darkly, but then we will see face to face and be fully known' ( 1 Corinthians 13:12), a verse he quoted again in a letter to his mother. His illness did not stop him working. He added a portrait of 'Dr Gachet' to his many other portraits.

However on the 27th July 1890, out in the fields he shot himself. He lived a further two days dying with is pipe in his hand and Theo at his side. He was refused burial in consecrated ground. Now Theo's grave is beside Vincent's in a municipal cemetery in Auvers.

QUOTATIONS

'I am not a friend of the present Christianity, though the founder was sublime... an artist greater than all artists, distaining marble and clay and colour, working in living flesh... he made living men immortals'

'This morning the light was so intense I could taste it in my lungs. The yellow across the cornfield was so bright that I truly felt the presence of God. As I tried to capture all this wonder on canvas, I realised that Heaven is here on earth could we but open our eyes'.